Perfect Forgotten Love
by Fictionous01
Summary: As Yuka runs away from Kizami, a heavy piece of wood falls on her head and knocks her out. Kizami decided to 'kidnap' her for the time being until she wakes up. However, when she does, she loses some of her memories - including those of Satoshi. Taking advantage of this situation, Kizami manages to convince her that he's her real brother. Kizami x Yuka. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Perfect Forgotten Love

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"Yuuuuka! Oi, Yuka!" Kizami Yuuya, a 17-year old from Byakudan Senior High School, called out as he walked down the blood stained halls of Tenjin Elementary. "Stop hiding and come out, Yuka!" He grinned maniacally at the thought of capturing the innocent 14 year old girl, Yuka Mochida. She was everything Kizami had wanted in a sister – yes, _she_ would be his little sister now.

The said girl squeaked as she heard her name being called by Kizami. She prayed that he wouldn't look under the teacher's desk in the classroom where she was currently located. However, from the sound of his voice and footsteps, it seemed like he was getting closer and closer.

"Yuka! Where did you go~? You shouldn't disobey your brother like that! Come out!" Kizami yelled once again. His voice was dreadfully loud – it was almost as if he was standing right outside the classroom.

_BAM!_

Yuka's eyes snapped wide open as she heard the door being slammed open."Yuka! You're in here, aren't you? Oi, Yuka! Answer me!" She heard Kizami say, followed by maniacal laughter.

_Oh no…he's already so close. I have to escape somehow. If only onii-chan was here! Onii-chan…! _Yuka thought. She started tearing up at the thought of her beloved brother, Satoshi Mochida. Her brother was a strong and kind person who would do anything for the safety of the people important to him. However, now that he's disappeared-

Yuka softly gasped as she realized she was making noises while crying. Though it was already too late – the footsteps were now headed towards her spot.

"Yukaaaa…I. Found. You," Kizami crouched down to get on eye-level with the young girl. "You should listen to your brother, Yuka."

Yuka was actually too terrified to speak. Tears spilled down her cheeks uncontrollably as her mind registered that she was going to die soon. _N-No…I don't want to die…onii-chan! Save me, onii-chan! _

"What are you saying? _I'M_ your 'onii-chan', isn't that right Yuka?" Kizami gritted his teeth – this 'onii-chan' of her's was starting to irritate him. Yuka gasped as she realized she had accidentally voiced her thoughts out loud.

She shook her head. "N-No…you're not my onii-chan. S-Satoshi Mochida is!" Yuka managed to mutter. She wouldn't-no, she _couldn't_ betray her brother. No matter how nice Kizami was to her, she just could not become his little sister.

Kizami's face darkened before he chuckled. "What did I say, Yuka…? _I_ am your only onii-chan. How many times must I tell you?!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her out roughly from under the teacher's desk. "Come with me."

Yuka shook her head furiously while struggling to get out of his strong grip. "N-No…! K-Kizami-san, why are you acting like this?!" She yelled out. He didn't bother to reply, and just continued to drag her out of the classroom and into the hallway.

Yuka whimpered and tried to pry his hands off her wrist. It was useless though – he was significantly stronger than her. His grip was so strong, it was sure to leave a bruise on her wrist. "O-ONII-CHAN! SAVE ME!" She tried yelling at the top of her lungs in desperation.

Kizami stopped dragging her for a moment before chuckling darkly. "I already told you, _I_ am your—".

He was cut short by Yuka escaping from his grip and running away. Kizami scowled as he realized he had accidentally loosened his grip in that moment. Sighing, he combed through his bangs lightly with his fingers. _Whatever…I'll always find her anyway. She can't run away from me, _he thought and began walking in the direction she ran off to.

On the other hand, Yuka was running down the hallways without bothering to stop. Kizami could be right behind her at any moment. For her, it was either fight or flight – the former was clearly not an option in this case.

"YUKA! COME HERE! OI, YUKA!" She heard his voice echo behind her. She tried to ignore it, but no matter how hard she tried, she just could not erase the thought of him coming after her.

_Kizami-san…why are you acting so strangely now? Why did you kill Kurosaki-san? Why?! I want to be with onii-chan and everyone else…I'm scared…I'm really scared…onii-chan… _Caught up in her thoughts, Yuka failed to focus on what was in front of her. She tripped over a corpse and fell down.

"O-Ouch…" She muttered and looked back at her legs. Her dress was torn a little bit and her legs had a few scrapes on them. _This isn't the time to worry about small scrapes, I have to keep going!_ She thought as she slowly stood up. However, she also failed to notice a loose yet heavy and large piece of wood hanging dangerously from the ceiling. It looked as if it could fall down at any moment.

Yuka straightened up and patted off some dust from her dress. "I need to keep goin—"Suddenly she felt something incredibly large and heavy hit her head hard. Collapsing due to the sudden weight upon her, Yuka began to black out.

_W-What is this…I can't lift my head, nor body…_She thought as she finally lost consciousness.

* * *

"YUKA! OI, YUKA! YOU CAN RUN BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM ME! HAHAHAHAHA!" Kizami laughed crazily, yet he walked at a calm and steady pace. He knew that Yuka wouldn't have much stamina; she couldn't run too far, and if she hid, she would be trying to catch her breath. He'd find her either way.

_I finally found my little sister…I'm not letting her get away from me. She won't reject me like my so-called siblings did. No, I won't _let_ her reject me. She's _mine, _and mine alone. I definitely won't let this 'onii-chan' of her's steal her either,_ he thought. _The things I could do with her now that she's mine…_ He grinned at the thought.

Up ahead, he heard something fall down and crash. _That must be her,_ Kizami concluded. He sped up his pace a bit, eager to finally get to her. In his line of sight, he saw someone crushed underneath a very large piece of wood; presumably from the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, the person was quite small and appeared to be wearing a very familiar blue dress.

"Yukaaa…I found you once again. You can't escape from me now," Kizami called out as he slowly closed the distance between Yuka and him. He wasn't in that much of a rush now that he knew she was trapped and couldn't escape.

"HNNG!" He lifted the heavy wood off from Yuka's body. However, she was unconscious. "Tsk." He shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. "OI, Yuka! Wake up! YUKA!"

No response.

Kizami clicked his tongue in annoyance. He didn't want to hurt her – yet, anyway. If he was to do it, he would rather have it done when she was conscious, so he could hear her lovely screams. But, that was only if she disobeyed him. He wanted to keep her around longer after all as his cute little sister.

"Well, whatever. I'm not letting this chance pass by," He grinned, took hold of Yuka's wrist, and proceeded to drag her once again.

_Yuka, you're finally mine. All mine. You're going to be the cute little sister I've always desired, _Kizami thought, unbeknownst to him that his 'wish' would come true.

* * *

A/N. Yay, my first Corpse Party fanfic ^^. Of course this will be a Kizami x Yuka fanfic. After all, it's my OTP. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews and constructive criticism is appreciated! By the way, huuuuge thanks to my editor who I'll call **Imperial Peasant of Fate of the Eternal Wind-san**, aka **Editor-san.** She doesn't have an account yet, though...**  
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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

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As Kizami was searching for a suitable room to stay in for the time being, he found something shining on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a key of some sort – to which room, he did not know. However, he decided to keep it just in case. The key might become useful at a later time.

He continued on his way down the eerie hallways when suddenly he was forcibly stopped. He looked back and saw that Yuka's dress was caught on a nail sticking out of one of the floorboards. He groaned.

"Not again! What a pain…" He complained and bent over to free the battered dress from the nail carefully to prevent it from getting ripped. Despite his wishes, the dress got torn a bit anyway. _Geez, what's with her stupid dress? It gets caught on freaking everything…_

This actually happened quite often. When Kizami dragged her across the uneven wooden floors, her dress would get caught on something. For the first few times, he had just forcibly tried to pull her and let the dress get ripped. However he realized he ripped up too much of the dress. So instead, he'd actually try and free the dress the long way – with his own hands. Now, he didn't give a damn about her clothes. It could get ripped for all he cared! Yet Yuka might mind it when she woke up, and he didn't want to exactly deal with that.

It wasn't that he couldn't deal with her tears or complaints – he had his knife after all if that was needed. He just wanted to get on her good side for now. He definitely did not want a rebellious and disobeying younger sister- no, he dreamed of the perfect little sister who would happily follow her older brother.

He laughed at his merry thoughts and proceeded to walk down the hallways in search of a suitable room. Most of the classrooms had too many holes in them and didn't have many useful things. The infirmary was off limits too, seeing how there were also malevolent and harmful spirits there. Perhaps the science lab was the best option, if he had the key to it. Maybe it was the key he found earlier.

Kizami was forced to stop again. He looked back and saw that the dress was caught onto something else this time. A small piece of wood – like probably a good two inches or so - sticking out from the floor caught the dress. Kizami groaned again.

"Tch. Again? I'll just carry you then." He decided and pulled her up roughly from the ground. This action caused the dress to rip even further and revealed her undergarments now. He scowled. _She'll be really startled when she wakes up and realizes this…I'll just tie my blazer around her waist_.

He sat her up against the wall, took his maroon blazer and tied it carefully around her waist. Although it was a bit large for her, it still did its job of covering her undergarments.

"Alright. Let's carry on," He muttered and hoisted Yuka up on his back. He wrapped her arms around his neck – not too tightly of course – and held her up by her thighs to balance her. Once confirming that she would not fall off, he carried on his search for the science lab.

It actually took quite a while for him to find it. After all, the elementary school was quite large and he was only there for a short while.

**Science Lab** was written on a rusty plaque next to the door. Kizami fished around in his pockets for the key. Finding the small, metal tool in his hand, he pulled it out and inserted it into the keyhole.

The key fit perfectly.

Kizami grinned and opened the door. The science lab was around the same size of a classroom, if not larger. Almost everything in there was intact. It was as if the science lab was untouched by the frequently occurring earthquakes or the school itself. Sure, there were a few cracks in the floor here and there, but there was no major holes in them like the other classrooms were.

There were four rows of tables with test tubes, bottles, beakers, books, and microscopes on them scattered about. Beneath or beside these tables were small stools spread out in a messy fashion. At the back of the room lay large shelves containing beakers and test tubes of all sorts, as well as various bottles and containers. Next to these shelves were large windows that had a few cobwebs and spider webs. There was also a skeleton model at the back of the room as well, but it truly seemed harmless and fake.

Kizami entered the dark room and looked around. At the corner of his eye, he saw some small, unlit candles on one of the tables. _I have some matches in my pocket, I'll be able to light them up,_ he thought.

He set Yuka down on a table – not too gently either, but she was still unconscious anyway – and headed towards the candles. He saw four of them. _They're more than enough. _

He took out the match box from his pockets and lit one of the matches. He brought it towards the candles and lit them all up. Putting out the match, as he didn't really have much use for them as of right now, he brought the candles over to around Yuka's body. It was close enough that he could see her clearly in the dark room now, but far away enough so that the flame would not harm her.

The young man pulled up a stool and sat on it, admiring Yuka's face. Her skin was so, _so_ soft. He was almost tempted to take out his knife and see exactly how soft it was before blood would spill. He dismissed the thought away, but it still lingered at the back of his mind.

Her slightly parted lips caught his attention instead. They were small, like that of a child's, and were open ever so slightly. He then thought of the wonderful sounds they could make, such as screaming, begging, and panting. Kizami wanted to hear those sounds the most, but he would have to wait patiently. He wanted to savor the time with her; not rush it. Rushing things would simply be a waste. For now, all he heard from her was her soft and steady breathing.

For the next few hours, Kizami waited for her to wake up. He would pace around the room, try to search it in hopes of finding something useful, admire Yuka again and have thoughts and fantasies fill up his mind, or attempting to wake her up. He managed to find some scalpels, even though he already has his knife. But hey, a few more couldn't hurt, right? In case he somehow lost his knife, which he was highly doubtful of, but that chance was still possible.

His attempts at waking Yuka up were futile. He even cut her slightly on her soft cheek – he made sure to clean it later – but even that did not stir her.

"Damn, she must be in a really deep sleep," Kizami muttered to himself as he sat on the stool and observed her. Just then, he heard a soft moan.

He blinked, still staring at her.

A soft moan again, yet a bit louder.

Kizami stared at Yuka's face more intently (if that was possible), and he was sure of it – Yuka was waking up.

Yuka's eyelids fluttered open. She blinked for a while, trying to adjust her eyes to her surroundings. She clenched her head a bit as she felt it throbbing a bit in pain. Then she realized she was not the only one in the room, and looked at Kizami in confusion.

"W-Who…are you?" She asked.

Kizami frowned. She did not remember him, even though she was screaming and begging for her onii-chan a few hours before? _This could be a good thing though. I'll have to test this out._

He smiled. "I'm Kizami Yuuya. You awake now, Yuka?"

"…Yuka…?"

He nodded in response. However by the looks of her face, she did not recognize the name 'Yuka', or the fact that she was 'Yuka' herself. _How much of her memories did she lose? Depending on which memories she lost, I could trick her into thinking that she's my sister. Yes, this is perfect! My chance has come!_ He grinned darkly, although it passed off as a normal smile to Yuka.

"Yuka is your name. Did you lose your memories?" He asked her.

She struggled a bit with her answer. She softly bit her lower lip and started to think hard for a few minutes before answering. "U-Um…this is Tenjin Elementary…right? W-With all the scary g-ghosts.. I can't remember how I got here though…or who I am, o-or my family…but you s-seem to know who I am. U-Um, can you please tell me who e-exactly I am?" She spoke in a soft and shy voice. She was also quite nervous as well.

_So she doesn't remember her brother? Or who she is? Yet she remembers our current situation….Heheh…Hahahahahaha! This is the best! She'll forever be my little sister as long as I keep her away from her brother, which would be easy since we're in different spaces! _ Kizami thought and couldn't help but chuckle quietly out loud.

"You're Yuka Kizami, my cute and adorable younger sister."

* * *

A/N. And here's the second chapter ^^ I most likely will not be able to update everyday, because I take up a LOT of time just trying to write 1k word chapters (I keep getting distracted and I want to think about word choices and sentences, as well as the character's thoughts and personality). I'll probably update every 2-4 days, maybe? By the way, sorry if Kizami is a bit OOC D: I want to have him want Yuka as his little sister without killing or torturing her _. Also, my friend/editor, **Imperial Peasant of Fate of the Eternal Wind-san** aka** Editor-san,** went on a vacation for the rest of this month so there might be more grammar errors in there! Please tell me if you see any ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

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"Yuka…Kizami?" The young girl repeated slowly. The name sounded quite foreign to her, but she supposed that it was truly her name. After all, this person in front of her – her older brother supposedly – seemed to be the only one around who could help her.

He nodded. "That's your name, Yuka Kizami. Do you not believe me?"

Yuka shook her head. "I believe you. After all, you're my onii-chan…!" She said the last part at the end a bit louder.

Kizami froze. Her words were repeating over and over in his head, especially what she last said.

'_After all, you're __**my onii-chan…**__!' _

He broke out of his small stance and grinned. Of course, Yuka could not see the true reason as to why he was grinning; she just simply assumed he was happy. Even though that was partly true, Kizami was thrilled for a different reason.

"Onii-chan, please tell me more about myself! I wish to know who I was–no, who I am!" Yuka exclaimed. She had more confidence and was no longer nervous around him anymore. After all, she trusted him now, knowing that he was her 'older brother'.

Kizami reached over and gently patted and ruffled her hair. To this, she winced and yelped slightly when he accidentally rubbed over the throbbing and sore spot. He pretended to not have heard it, but the soft yet sharp sound that came from her mouth seemed to echo in his mind.

"Of course. Let's see… you're the youngest child in our family, siblings to me and – "He stopped himself. He didn't dare mutter the names of his stupid, supposed older siblings of his. However, he debated on whether or not he should mention them to Yuka. If they were to be in Tenjin forever, then it shouldn't matter. But if they escaped –should there be a way out of here – he could have Yuka possibly a lot longer than their time here in the elementary school. That could also mean a definite risk of Yuka meeting _them_ though.

Kizami scowled just thinking about them. Yuka seemed to notice and put her hand on his arm, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Onii-chan…? Are you okay?" She asked, worry evident in her eyes.

He nodded in response. _Such a pure and innocent child. It makes me want to have her even more. _"Yeah, just thinking about some…unpleasant memories."

She tilted her head. "What kind of memories?"

"Ah, nothing important. As I was saying, you're siblings to me, and two other people-"Yuka cut him off.

"Who?" Yuka couldn't help but be curious. Kizami frowned. He certainly did not want to talk about them, but it seems that with her obliviousness and memory loss, he could twist things a bit.

"Two very mean people who refuse to accept us and treat us as proper siblings. You see, you're the illegitimate child of our father - the person who was born out of betrayal from our father. As such, they refuse to accept you as their sibling. However, how can I refuse such a cute and adorable little sister such as you?" He reached over and pinched both of her baby soft cheeks. She starting pouting a little and looked away, blushing the tiniest bit. He let go and ruffled her hair, avoiding the spot where it was sore.

Yes, he would cover her with lies and deceptions as long as she would be his. _If anyone, or anything, is going to get in the way of that…_Kizami gripped the knife in his pocket. This wouldn't be likely, but there still might be a chance.

Her amnesia would not recover that much, as long as she doesn't have any item in relation with her brother or anyone else, or end up meeting them. The latter would be nearly impossible. If what the spirit said was correct, then it would be impossible meeting them because they're in different spaces! As far as he knows, traversing the spaces is unheard of – when you're alive, anyway. He had yet to find out if you could travel across them as spirits.

Then again, escaping the elementary school was also unheard of. There were more benefits to getting out of Tenjin than there were accepting their fate and dying. If there truly was no way out, at least he and Yuka would die together, and together forever they shall be.

Kizami stood up from his stool and held out his hand towards her. "We can talk about the past later. What we should be worried about is escaping from this school. Shall we go, Yuka?"

Yuka looked up at him with admiration. She nodded and happily took his much larger hand with her smaller one. As she hopped off the table, she finally seemed to realize that something was wrapped around her waist.

She looked down and saw a large, maroon blazer covered her legs from the waist down to around her ankles. She stared at it curiously, wondering how it got there. It seemed too big to be her's. Was it his, then?

Kizami looked down at Yuka and noticed her ogling at his school blazer. "Ah, are you wondering why you have it on?" He asked.

She nodded in response. She lifted up one part of the blazer and started rubbing the fabric with her thumb, as if to get a feeling of how soft it was. Satisfied with the results, she stared back up at Kizami, waiting for an answer.

"Ah you see, it happened around the time you probably lost your memories. I found you buried under a large chunk of wood, and when I lifted it off your body, some of it got caught on your dress and ripped it. Unfortunately, it ripped too much, and I…err…saw your… ahem, anyway, I used my blazer to cover it up." He didn't dare tell her the real reason. She did not need to know that he was dragging her. He still needed to keep up the 'nice and caring guy' impersonation.

Yuka blushed a little, knowing that he had seen her undergarments. "Thank you for doing that, onii-chan…As I thought, you're really kind and caring!" She was practically beaming at him now. However when she said this, she couldn't help but get a tinge of déjà vu. She quickly dismissed it though.

"..Of course! What kind of older brother would I be if I couldn't at least do this for my little sister?" Kizami faked a grin. "Now, let's be on our way. We're not going to escape this school staying in one room."

Yuka nodded happily and followed him out of the classroom. To be honest, she was really scared. She was scared of the corpses and ghosts that lingered here at the school. _But…if onii-chan is here, then I have nothing to fear! He'll protect me!_ She thought confidently. Despite her positive way of thinking, her knees shook a little bit out of fear.

They continued walking down the hallways of the school with no specific location in mind. Kizami had suggested exploring more of the school to find more clues and notes. This didn't seem to be such a bad plan. What other plan did they have anyway?

During their exploration, Kizami seemed to have noticed something. At every foreign sound or movement, Yuka would hold onto his hand tighter and grab onto the sleeve of his arm instinctively. She would even whimper sometimes. Kizami didn't seem to mind this – in fact, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed that her tiny, little hand would cling onto his shirt sleeve out of fear, even _whimpering_. Those small, soft little cries that were emitted from her – he really took delight in hearing them.

Despite taking pleasure from her fear, he still had to keep his act up. He would (reluctantly) reassure and comfort her by patting her head, squeezing her hand back in return, or giving her words of encouragement. This seemed to be effective and as a result, she wouldn't show her fear as often as before, much to his dismay.

_Remember, this is all for the greater cause. Don't let your desires take control of you, Kizami, _He thought to himself. Caught up in his thoughts, he failed to notice that someone was watching the two of them intently.

A certain spirit behind the corner of the hallway smirked. _Well, this is interesting…I wonder how it'll play out~!_ The spirit giggled and disappeared.

* * *

A/N. Thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them! / I'm actually having a bit of writer's block. I have the storyline and ending planned out (somewhat), it's just the little things in between that contribute to them that I'm having trouble thinking of. Which is why my chapters are so short ^^||. Again, my editor is still on vacation (and I'm awful at grammar, even though English is my first language) so please tell me about your opinions on word choice, spelling, etc. Just any grammar mistakes you might see!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

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Kizami quickly looked back. He swore he had heard feminine giggling behind him. Instead, all he saw was the dim, aged hallway of Tenjin. He knew better than to think it was his imagination though. It was definitely a female ghost watching them. This was the cursed Tenjin Elementary that they were stuck in, after all.

Yuka tugged lightly on Kizami's sleeve. "Is something the matter, onii-chan?" Worry was clearly evident in her round eyes.

God, he just loved hearing her call him 'onii-chan'. He could never get tired of hearing her saying that.

Seeing how he only stared back at her in response, she tugged a bit harder on his sleeve. "Onii-chan..? What's wrong? D-Did…a ghost appear?!" She whimpered and quickly looked around to make sure.

_Yes. Call me 'onii-chan'. Call me that once more, my dear Yuka. _

Kizami snapped out of his thoughts and gave her a reassuring smile. "I was just thinking about things. No need to worry, your onii-chan is strong and brave!" He winked – he inwardly shuddered; how could he do something so flirtatious – and accidentally patted her head on the spot where she was hit.

She winced. "O-Ow..it still hurts…" She muttered, although Kizami still heard. Was it wrong of him to be ecstatic in moments like these? Screw that; this was Tenjin – nothing like that ever mattered in this cursed school anymore.

Kizami removed his hand from her head. "Sorry, I forgot." He chuckled a bit until something on his hand caught his eye. He raised his hand up to his face for a better view. There on his hands were small splotches of crimson, which was without a doubt: blood.

He didn't have any major injuries recently, and he didn't touch any fresh corpses either. The only person he has been with lately was Yuka. His eyes widened and darted to the top of Yuka's head. From a quick glance, nothing seemed to be wrong with her. However, upon closer inspection, a small patch of her hair was matted with blood.

_And she didn't even notice…she's so oblivious and innocent – one of the reasons why I adore her so much. Then again, it could also be her downfall at times, _he thought. _At any rate, this shouldn't be left alone. _

"Yuka." He stopped walking, causing her to stop walking as well since their hands were intertwined.

"What is it?" She looked up curiously at him.

He showed her his blood stained hand. She started to freak out a little. "E-Eek! Onii-chan, what happened to your hand?!" She took hold of his hand and carefully inspected it.

_Ahh…what a nice sound, Yuka. Do it again. Oh how I love that sweet voice of yours._

Kizami chuckled. "Ah, nothing happened. This is your blood actually. The wound on your head might be a bit worse than you think. Something like this shouldn't be left untreated, don't you think so?"

Her eyes widened as she heard this, but then quickly nodded in response. "But there's nothing around to bandage my head!" She pointed out.

"Ahh…that's true. The only fabric we currently have is our clothes…" Kizami trailed off, thinking about it for a moment. He looked at Yuka when an idea suddenly popped into his mind. "Yuka, I apologize for this, but may I rip off some of your dress?"

Yuka's eyes widened and she began to blush intensely. "W-What are you saying, onii-chan?!"

"I need something to bandage your head with, and like I said, the only fabric we have right now is our clothes."

"T-Then…use your own shirt!"

He raised an eyebrow but didn't complain. "If you say so…" He grabbed the ends of his shirt and slowly started to pull it up, revealing his defined torso in the process.

Yuka's blush intensified, if that was even possible at this point. Her entire face was flushed a deep shade of red. Kizami seemed to be taking off his shirt at such a leisurely and slow pace; it was almost as if he was doing it on purpose to tease her. From the looks of it, it sure seemed to be working.

Yuka's eyes wandered involuntarily for a few moments before abruptly stopping herself. _Stop, Yuka! He's your brother! You shouldn't view your own brother in such a way!_ She had a déjà vu moment as she thought that, but she quickly dismissed it as something that might've happened in the past with Kizami.

"W-What are you doing, onii-chan?! P-Please put your s-shirt back on!" She exclaimed and quickly covered her eyes with her hand.

He smirked. He couldn't deny it – he was definitely enjoying this. What guy in his right mind wouldn't enjoy watching his little sister getting flustered over him? Oh right – none. Her flushed face and impulsive cries only proved to make the fact that she was simply innocent more evident. Oh how he loved this. It was such a pity that they met under these circumstances.

"I need to bandage your head, right? And you told me to use my shirt," He grinned, obviously taking delight in her predictable reactions.

Yuka opened her mouth as if to say something, but then quickly shut it. She opened it once more, yet again shut it. She furrowed her eyebrows and bit on her bottom lip. She was clearly thinking hard about this little predicament. _I don't have too much of my dress left…it stops just below the waistline! And if he takes enough from the top of my dress, it'll surely reveal at least some of my chest! Then again, I have onii-chan's blazer to cover my body afterwards. But…that's afterwards! He'd still see me during the process! A-And if he takes off his shirt…! Thinking about such things…I know I shouldn't be thinking about them but I can't help it! Ahh what should I do?! _

Kizami grinned as he watched her face fluctuate as she thought. It was certainly entertaining for him, seeing her emotions vary by the second. One moment she'd bite her lip and frown, and the next moment, she'd gasp softly and her cheeks would redden. _Oh Yuka, I wonder what you're thinking about right now. What would it be…my shirt, or your dress? Either way, both results are satisfying._

Then, Yuka seemed to finally find something to say. "Y-Your shirt!" She shouted and pointed at Kizami's shirt.

He raised an eyebrow. "So you wish for me to use my shirt then? If that's what you want." He proceeded to once again take the bottom ends of his shirt and pull it upward. However, Yuka shouted once more before he could reveal his toned chest and torso.

"T-That's not what I meant! C-can't you rip off a part of your shirt?! L-Like…your sleeve!"

He could certainly do it. Ripping off the sleeve of his shirt was no difficult task. But where's the fun in that?

He pretended to smile apologetically. "The fabric of my shirt is too dense and firm for me to rip it. Your dress is softer though, so I could rip it easily." That was partly true. Her dress really was softer than his shirt.

She thought about it for a few more moments before looking down in defeat. "F-Fine…just enough to wrap around my head though! N-Not too much! And you can't look!" She insisted.

"Alright. I'd have to look a little though so I know how much I rip off."

"T-Then that's all you can look for! That's it!"

He got down on his knees to get on the same level as her. He untied the blazer from around her waist and set it to the ground. Truthfully, he could see her undergarments clearly. However, he didn't want any resistance or struggle from her, so he avoided looking at them as much as possible.

He grabbed the end of her dress and gently started ripping it. He didn't want to rip off too much of her dress on accident after all.

Yuka waited impatiently as she watched him. She wanted to say something – anything- to him as some sort of retaliation or opposition to this. Yet she couldn't manage to find anything to say, so she stood there silently watching him.

She could not deny relishing the feeling of his hands though. His hands were gentle, and at the moments they accidentally brushed against her skin, they were soft yet rough in a way. When they were holding hands earlier, she couldn't doubt that his hands were also strong, but his actions were nothing but gentle towards her. She felt as if this feeling was slightly foreign to her, yet she did not know why. They were siblings, right?

Absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't realize that he was already done and had actually already bandaged her head with the fabric. It was when he tenderly pinched her cheeks that she noticed him.

"Have you finally stopped spacing out? What were you thinking about?" He asked her, still not letting go of her silky and smooth cheeks. He was truly curious as to what exactly she was thinking about. To be so deep in thought that she didn't notice him even after he was done – what could she possibly be thinking about? Despite that, he was also thinking about something now: how was her skin so soft? He was contemplating about it before, but he was seriously beginning to think about it.

If he even pressed his knife just a little bit against her skin, a small amount of blood would easily trickle down. Was her skin naturally like this, or did she use any of those stupid, fake skincare products? No, she didn't seem like one to use them. He shouldn't think about it too much though – he wasn't really complaining.

Yuka shook her head. "N-Nothing. By the way, why do my legs feel so cold…?" Before Kizami could have a chance to answer, she looked down and found it. Her dress couldn't even be called a dress anymore. It was more like a shirt now since it just barely reached her belly button – which also meant her undergarments were _completely_ visible.

Yuka's eyes widened before frantically looking around for something to cover herself with. Luckily she managed to spot the blazer in a heap on the floor and scrambled for it. Instantaneously she decided that simply wrapping it around her stomach would take too much time right now, so she attempted to put it on. Given that it was way too big for her, she had quite a bit of trouble putting it on.

Kizami, for once in his life, was oblivious to what was happening until he saw her attempting to put on his school blazer. He chose to watch her struggle for a while instead of helping her. Everything she did was quite amusing to him – possibly even more than ending a mere hamster's or a rabbit's life. They were so easy to kill, and their reactions were small. Perhaps he needed more satisfactory reactions – like a human's.

His eyes focused on Yuka once again, who was still struggling with putting the maroon jacket on. But Yuka…he would save her. Unless the time comes when she resisted against him, he wouldn't kill her so soon. _Save the best for last, huh…_

He was abruptly brought out of his thoughts when he heard Yuka call him. He blinked and stared at her. She seemed to have given up and was sitting on the floor. _Why does she have so much trouble putting it on? It's just a bit big for her. _He pondered for a bit.

"Onii-chan…" The 14-year old girl mumbled a bit louder.

Kizami chuckled. "Do you want me to help you?" He received a small nod in response. He carefully removed the blazer from her body so he could properly put it on her. "Put your arms up for a bit." He told her, to which she followed without complaint. He slid the blazer over her head and pulled it down over her body, her arms going through the sleeves as well.

To be honest, she looked pretty good in it. Since it was no longer wrapped around her waist, it came down to just above her knees. The sleeves were too long for her arms, so the ends hung down from where her hands would be. Part of it also slid off her shoulders since it was so loose on her. All in all, she looked pretty damned cute in _his_ blazer.

"How do I look…?" She muttered and stared up at him, blinking innocently.

Perverts might get a nosebleed and faint from something like this, but Kizami knew better than to do something so ridiculous. Unlike them, he had self-control.

"It looks good on you, Yuka." He told her honestly – it was the best way to answer to that question anyhow.

Her eyes lit up with happiness. "R-Really?!"

Kizami nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, we should get going. We wouldn't want to waste anymore time now." He held out his hand as an offer to help her stand up, to which she gladly accepted.

Even so, as they continued their way through the halls of Tenjin, Kizami still felt like the female spirit would appear once more sometime soon. He frowned. _Looks like I'll have to be on guard from here on out…_

* * *

Meanwhile, in another space and location of the school….

Satoshi woke up with a startle and sat up immediately; his eyes darting around frantically. He blinked and realized he didn't recognize the room he was currently in.

"Eh…? Where am I? This place is…" He looked around the room more carefully now. There were work desks with swivel chairs right beside them arranged neatly in rows; although there were some papers scattered across the floor and a few of the chairs were knocked over. There was also a board with plaques on them listing the names of some people he didn't recognize.

_Is this the staffroom? From the looks of it, I guess so…_He thought. _What happened? I was at the door waiting for Yuka, then…_His eyes widened in realization. His younger sister wasn't with him!

"Yuka!" He stood up and started looking around the room. "YUKA?! Where are you?!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs, but it was in vain. He received no response. He really started to get worried. Sweat started trickling down from his forehead. His mind was filled with countless thoughts all jumbled together in an incoherent mess; he couldn't think straight.

_Crap….! Crap, crap! W-We've been separated! How did this happen?! Where is she?! Worst case scenario, she….!_ Images appeared in his mind. He tried to ignore them, but they still kept popping up. He cursed under his breath and shook his head. _I can't just stay here thinking about it! I have to go find her!_

Satoshi spotted the door and ran to it. "Yuka!" He tried opening the door but it was locked. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge. He pounded on it with his fists repeatedly.

"Wh-why?! You've gotta be kidding me!" He yelled out of frustration. His sister was somewhere out there, all alone; vulnerable to the malice and evil intent of the ghosts here. Fear filled his entire body; his legs were shaking, sweat trickled down his forehead, and his breathing grew heavy. He couldn't bear to lose her. Not here, not now.

Satoshi pounded once more on the door, though his attempts were futile. _Th-this is the same as that time with the window…! I'm locked in!_

Realization began to hit him hard "W-What to do…if this continues…I'll spend the rest of my life here! I-It can't be!" He grasped his hair in fear. "Uwahhh! Is there really no way out? There has to be an escape route!" He decided to search around the room for some sort of item or clue.

"A key or…maybe something that could pry open the door…" As he was looking around, he failed to see the corpse on the ground and inevitably tripped over it.

"UWAAAAAH?!" He exclaimed, falling back and knocking over a table and scattering the papers on it. "Ouch! What…" The high-schooler looked to see what tripped him. "A…corpse…? I-If it is, please don't hold any grudges." He told the corpse; expecting no response from it of course (unless the spirit was there).

As Satoshi sat up, he noticed something on the ground. "Oh?" There was a DVD tape on top of a stack of papers; which, for once, didn't look particularly old or worn out. "What's this?" He picked up the stack of papers. _Is this something about the school? But it's so new…_

He picked up the DVD tape. "A recording? Year 2005…so it _is_ something new! Although even if I want to listen to it, I don't have the right equipment…I'll just keep it then. Just in case." He stashed the tape into his pocket.

"Now let's see…" He looked at the papers once more. "Files?"

**A Report of Truly Weird Things: It Really Exists! Investigating About This Cursed School's Past! Kibiki Kou**

"Kibiki Kou…? Is this written by him?" Satoshi pondered out loud, but continued reading nonetheless.

**The case of the kidnapping came to a tragic conclusion. When Tenjin Elementary School was still existing, there were 3 dead children locked up in the basement. But there was one girl who was sitting in the corner waiting to be killed – the survivor. The only other person in the room, who was holding a pair of bloodied scissors, was a male teacher. From what the survivor said, the man was indeed the murderer of the three children. As a result, he was sent to the mental hospital. He was not found guilty, as they could prove he had mental complications, but he was to be locked up for further treatment. This man was a teacher and the principal's son. According to the people around him, he was optimistic…but he ended up mentally unstable and was unable to teach. He escaped numerous times from the mental hospital, and locked himself up inside Tenjin Elementary's basement, and committed suicide. **

**The children who were kidnapped and harmed were students of Tenjin. However, the only surviving child moved away after the incident. As a result of this incident, the number of students in Tenjin dropped drastically, and the school was forced to shut down.**

**The principal wrote incomprehensive words all over his house – they were truly strange actions. The second day after the school shut down, the principal climbed to the rooftop of the school and jumped down. His head was broken and died instantly from the impact. It was a heart wrenching incident.**

**My opinion of these incidents, using my supernatural knowledge…looking into this huge curse…the key person is still the girl who witnessed the horrible deaths of the victims, but survived: the girl dressed in red.**

**Because I just started my investigations, I decided to continue to investigate on this. Please await my next report.**

Satoshi looked at the photo attached to the files. It was a portrait photograph featuring the survivor – the girl dressed in red. "That's the girl who got rescued. Isn't she the one who Yuka and I met earlier…? Why is she one of the ghosts here in this school?"

_This girl…I have an ominous feeling about her. Is there more to her than she lets on?_

A small piece of paper fell from the papers Satoshi was holding. "Hm?" He picked it up. "A note…? It's handwritten."

**The principal is being held responsible for [another unfortunate case. Missing school's nurses at Tenjin Elementary School] Tenjin Elementary School's confirmed shut down on 18****th**** January 1975.**

"The school's nurses went missing too, huh...," he muttered to himself. _What really happened to this school in the past, for it to be called a 'cursed school'…?_

Suddenly, a hand snatched the papers away from him. "Eh..?" He looked up and saw a girl around his age with red glasses and black, short hair.

"UWAHHH?!" Satoshi shouted and fell back in surprise. "W-Who are you?! W-Why…?! W-Where did you come from?!" He blurted out.

The girl stared down at him. "I'm Saenoki Naho. Where did you find these notes?"

Satoshi was unable to answer. Her eyes were dead and void of any light or life in them – it scared him. To think that there'd be someone his age with such dead fish eyes…was she a ghost of this school too?

Seeing how he didn't give any response, Naho sighed. "I met some of your friends earlier. I think I even saw a cute, little girl too. Her name…Yuka, was it~?" She giggled.

His eyes lit up. _She seems to be pretty nice. She also knows where Yuka and the rest are! _"R-Really? How are they? Are they okay?!"

She smiled. "Hehe…you could say that."

Satoshi let out a sigh of relief. "That's good! Do you know where they are?" _It's good to know that they're okay, especially Yuka. _He waited for a response from her, still beaming with joy and vivacity. She continued to smile back at him; not saying a single word in response. The happy feelings he harbored mere moments ago quickly faded with each passing second.

…..

_Why isn't she answering?_

…..

Her smile did not look gentle or kind anymore. It seemed to be forced and quite disturbing actually. Satoshi began to get nervous. _W-Why isn't she answering…? She's not even saying anything…_

"U-Um…Naho—"He was abruptly cut off by the girl.

"You…should not be caring about your friends right now, not when you're in ill-fated situation yourself. One of your friends might have purposely messed up and brought the curse down upon all of you – or perhaps, it was _you_ who did it. That's how you ended up here. If it weren't for that, you all would still be living happily with your friends. None of them would've died." Naho tilted her head and giggled.

Satoshi gritted his teeth. _Is she taunting me?!_ "There's no way that they—"He began to protest but was cut off by Naho once again.

"How do you know that for sure? Besides…I really wonder how your cute sister is doing~. She seems to be in a rather…content situation. I wonder why that is~." She started laughing louder. "You'd be really surprised."

Satoshi's eyes widened. "What's that supposed to mean—?! AAAGHHHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" He screamed in agony and pain as a burning sensation spread throughout his body. _M-Make it stop! It hurts….it hurts….What is this?! _His vision began to blacken and fade rapidly.

Naho smiled. "You should go now. One of your friends is in danger." Her words were lost to Satoshi though, drowned out by his screams.

Once he was gone, Naho sighed softly. "I really wonder what'd happen if he met up with his cute little sister though~. Should I give them a little push?" She put her hand on her chin and paused for a moment to think about it.

"….Nah. It's better to just watch it happen naturally," She laughed once more before disappearing. "Can't say the same for Sachiko though~."

* * *

A/N. Sorry about the long wait! _ I was quite busy with personal events in real life so I didn't have much of a chance to write. I made this chapter extra long though, so I hope it kind of makes up for it! Thank you for all the reviews! I used some concepts of the ideas in some of them, although not entirely because it would kind of contradict with previous chapters. Sorry ^^|||. As always, please alert me if there's any mistakes!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

* * *

A certain young, female ghost wearing a red dress blinked, and then smirked. "Looks like my 'guests' are in an unexpected situation. You should go kill them too, Yoshikazu~! Then again…" Sachiko, the cause of the curse and the one who terrorized the school, chuckled. She tilted her head back and spread her arms out to the side. Her soft chuckling quickly transitioned into loud, crazed bursts of laughter.

"Mother, are you watching?! Look, look! These prisoners of mine are the best! It's like a twisted love story! It's so sickeningly sweet…it makes me want to torture them by killing them off slowly, one by one!" Sachiko exclaimed at the ceiling, as if her mother would actually respond.

Her laughter eventually died down when the only response she received was silence, except for the small, quiet groans emitting from Yoshikazu. She straightened out her posture and looked at the zombie-like teacher. "Alright, let's go, Yoshikazu. We should entertain ourselves with our other guests while we wait." Sachiko told him and with that, she walked on ahead.

"Ooooooaaaaghhhh….." The man moaned and followed after her into the darkness.

* * *

At another location and space of the school…

Satoshi suddenly found himself in the middle of a hallway in Tenjin. He blinked and looked around, wondering what had happened to him. Suddenly, the recent events flooded into his mind.

_That's right...that girl –Naho, was it? – was provoking me…She also did something to me. I remember my body suddenly being filled with an extremely painful burning sensation…what did it do to me though? _ He thought hard about it. Everything that had happened so far in the cursed school was something unmistakably done by a ghost – things that were most likely done in order to kill the entrapped humans that were still alive.

Seeing how the previous burning pain had no affect to him physically or mentally (yet), Satoshi decided to wander around and continue his search to find his friends, as well as his younger sister and his teacher. He walked down the hallway while calling out their names.

"NAOMI!"

..

Nothing.

"YUKA!"

…

Nothing.

Sweat trickled down from his forehead.

"SENSEI!"

….

No response.

"SHINOZAKI!"

…..

Silence.

"SUZUMOTO!"

…

No reply.

He bit his lip softly.

"MORISHIGE!"

….

Nothing.

"YOSHIKI!"

…..

The silence remained.

"SHINOHARA!"

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Nishi~…"

Satoshi's eyes widened. _That strange laughter…I only know one person who laughs like that!_ There was no mistaking it – that laughter belonged to none other than Seiko. Unfortunately, the laughter was too small for him to determine which direction it came from.

"Nishishi~!"

_There it is again! It's louder though…! It came from that way! _Satoshi dashed towards the direction he heard it from while yelling Seiko's name.

"SHINOHARA! WHERE ARE YOU?! IT'S ME, SATOSHI!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. He ran through the hallway, entering each and every classroom he passed by in case she was in one of them. After searching through all of them, he decided to rest for a bit at the entrance to the stairway before going up to the second floor.

Satoshi closed his eyes and panted heavily, trying to catch his breath after sprinting throughout – almost – the entire first floor of the school. He sat down against the wooden doorway and wiped away the sweat on his face. He wasn't out of shape, but he wasn't that athletic either. After resting for a minute or two, he decided that he was well enough to start his search again. _Where could she be…? If only I had another clue…_

"Mochida-kun, over here~!"

Satoshi bolted straight up and saw Seiko's fleeting figure enter the stairway. He began to run after her.

"Shinohara! Wait! Where you are going?! Hey! Wait for me!" He exclaimed and ran up the wooden stairs to follow her. However, he stopped in his tracks when he spotted something pink on one of the steps. _What is it? It's kinda thin and rectangular…actually, it kinda looks like…..a cell phone?!_

Satoshi bent over and picked it up, seeing a picture of Naomi and Seiko as the wallpaper of the phone. _This is…Naomi's cell phone! That means she might be with Shinohara! _ He gave a sigh of relief and put the cell phone in his pocket before continuing his way up the stairs; although at a much slower pace. _If they're together, then they're probably alright!_

Nonetheless, he still had to meet up with them and make sure they're alright. It was good to be optimistic, but he couldn't go around making false assumptions. Besides, the more people, the better.

"This way, way~!" Seiko called out to him before turning around the corner at the end of the hallway.

"H-Hey! Wait up!" He chased after her, but when he also turned around the corner of the hallway, Seiko was nowhere to be seen.

_Eh…? Where did she go…? I could've sworn she was just there…_He furrowed his eyebrows, but walked on ahead anyway.

"Naomi! Shinohara! Where are you girls at?!" He tried calling for them as he walked, but he received no response. _Wasn't she just here? Why aren't they answering me? Is it some kind of joke? Knowing Shinohara, she'd be the type to joke around; probably even in these times…I get the feeling that it's not that, though…_

"Ne ne, Seiko, did you see it?"

"Hmm~? See what?"

Satoshi's eyes lit up. _These voices…they're Naomi's and Shinohara's! Gossiping at a time like this…only those two would! I wonder what they're talking about...hopefully nothing too bad._

"Naomi! Shinohara! It's me, Satoshi! What are you two gossiping about?!" He cupped his hands around his mouth to help project his voice.

However, they ignored Satoshi and continued on with their conversation.

"You know, the little thing with Satoshi and Kishinuma! He totally digs Satoshi, I tell you!"

Satoshi blushed immensely as he heard that. _W-what..?! W-Why are they talking about s-something like that?! _ _Kishinuma and I…_ He shook his head and rid himself of his thoughts. _R-Right…I shouldn't be thinking about that right now. Where are they anyway? I haven't seen them yet. Maybe they're in the bathrooms? I haven't checked those yet. Guess I'll go check now._

"Wahh~! Really?! "

"Yup! You should've seen it, Seiko! I saw Kishinuma flirting around with Satoshi, and I swore he even groped his butt a little!"

Satoshi blushed again, yet more so than before. _K-Kishinuma?! Since when did he do such a thing?! I don't recall anything like that! Is Naomi making up stuff? But, their voices are also getting louder…! I must be on the right track..._ He sped up his pace a little.

"Naomi! Shinohara! Are you in the bathroom?!" He shouted while on his way to said location. Once again, they ignored him and continued on with their gossip.

The young high schooler frowned. He had a feeling something was off – he was close enough to the bathrooms that they could hear him if he shouted, but they acted like he wasn't there at all. _Maybe they couldn't hear me over their voices._

"Looks like you got some competition, Naomi~".

"Not anymore! When Satoshi left, I totally beat him up to a bloody pulp! You should've seen me! Kishinuma's probably scared of me now! " The two giggled harmoniously, yet in a quite disturbing way.

Satoshi reached the entrance to the girls' bathroom. "Guess there's no helping it. Please excuse the intrusion," He muttered (mostly) to himself and entered.

"Naomi? Shinohara? Are you two in here?" He spoke in a softer tone because he felt there wasn't any need to yell or shout if they were already in there.

"Aren't guys so useless though? Kishinuma's supposedly a delinquent and I beat him up! I guess they're cute even though they're all idiots."

Satoshi was shocked at what he heard. "Eh…? Naomi…?" _She would never say that! Something is _definitely_ wrong!_ He rushed over to check each stall.

"I know right! Ne ne, Naom– "

He slammed open the first stall. Nothing.

He slammed open the next stall. Again, nothing.

As he was going to check the third one, there were loud banging sounds as well gagging sounds in between each _bang_ coming from the fourth and last stall. He immediately rushed over to the stall.

"NAOMI! SHINOHARA!" He pounded repeatedly on the door. "CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ANSWER ME!"

The banging ceased and the gagging and choking increased. "Ack….u-urgghhh…"

Fear coursed throughout Satoshi's body. He started to panic. _This doesn't look good! I need to do something! _

He tried opening the door repeatedly. It was locked, but luckily for him, the door was old and rotting quite a bit so he forcibly opened it after a few tries. The force of the door being forcibly opened knocked Satoshi back on his bottom.

"Ouch…" He muttered before looking up – which he somewhat regretted doing. His eyes were filled with horror as he saw Naomi hanging in the stall, held by a thick rope wrapped tightly around her neck and connected to the beam above the bathroom stalls. Her hands were clawing desperately at it, but to no avail. Her legs were swinging violently back and forth – probably the source of the banging from earlier. The rope cut into her skin and stained her fingers and the rope with small amounts of blood. Saliva and spit trickled out of her mouth as she frantically tried to inhale oxygen, but only incoherent sounds emitted as a result of gagging and choking. Tears and sweat mingled and mixed on her face. Over all, she was suffering immensely and her vain attempts at clawing at the rope did little to relieve herself of the almost inevitable fate of death.

"U-Urghhh…guuurhh…"

"N-NAOMI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HAVE YOU GONE INSANE?!" Satoshi shouted as he got back up. _At any rate, I have to help her – and fast! She'll die any moment now if I don't help her!_

"G-Guuurghh…." The sound of her choking was the only response he got.

_I'm tall enough; maybe if I let her sit on my shoulders, the rope would loosen around her neck, _he thought. He grabbed her thighs and lifted her up a bit so he could properly place her on his shoulders. He held onto her legs for support.

Fortunately, his plan worked. The rope loosened around her neck and Naomi was able to breathe again. Her face was flushed and began coughing and gasping, trying to get oxygen to make up for the amount she lost before.

"Okay, breathe…you're okay now," Satoshi told her. "Do you think you could release yourself?"

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again and she gasped and coughed, still trying to get enough oxygen. He took it as a 'no'.

"Looks like you can't…let me try to help you." He couldn't do much to help at the moment. He didn't have anything to cut the rope with, and nothing nearby was useful. Even if there were items that were in the bathroom and could be used, he couldn't just release Naomi and let her choke again. He decided he'd have to try and release the knot himself.

Satoshi reached up to the rope with his arm and when he grabbed it, it felt sticky – as if a sticky liquid was coating it. "It feels really sticky – I can't get a good grasp of it! What is it anyway…?" Then it struck him – it was blood. To be more specific, it was Naomi's blood. He cursed under his breath. _Naomi, what's gotten into you?! Why'd you do this?!_

It was really hard trying to untie the rope with one hand, more so if he couldn't grasp it well when it was coated with Naomi's blood. He was also still carrying her, and her weight was really starting to strain him. His eyes widened as his legs suddenly buckled underneath him and he fell to his knees. Naomi was caught by the rope once again and started choking.

"Gah! Guurgh!" She tried to reach behind her and untie the knot herself but the previous events were starting to take its toll on her. She felt fatigued and weak, and she wasn't fully recovered yet. Her arms fell limp to her side and her eyes were slowly closing.

"DAMN IT! NAOMI!" He frantically and clumsily put her back on his shoulders and reached up to the knot. He fumbled with it hysterically, desperately trying to save her – and _fast._ Then, he felt the knot loosen and untangle slightly.

He inwardly cheered as he realized this and pulled on the rope to help unknot it further. _Yes! I untied it!_

Satoshi then proceeded to carefully set Naomi on the ground and against a wall. She was panting heavily and her face was flushed again while tears were running down her face.

He put his hand on her shoulder and gently rubbed it; as if it was some sort of way to comfort her. "There there…it's alright now. Take deep breaths - in…out…in…out." He directed her, to which she followed. After a few moments or so, her breathing was back to normal.

At last, Satoshi asked the question that lingered in his mind ever since he saw her in the stall like that. "Naomi…why were you hanging yourself?"

Naomi, who felt too dizzy and air-headed previously, finally realized that Satoshi saved her. She started to tear up again. "S-Satoshi…" She sniffed and tried to wipe away her tears, "I-I was so scared…! Where were you?! I-I just suddenly found myself h-hanging there i-in the stall, ch-choking…I don't even know h-how I got here. I-it was like…! Um…" She paused for a moment to think about it. "I-it was as if—"

"Someone was possessing you." A female voice finished Naomi's sentence for her. Satoshi turned around and saw Naho standing there with her arms crossed and a disturbing smile on her face.

"Y-You!" Satoshi pointed at her.

"Yes, 'me'. I feel so honored that you recognize me," She said sarcastically. "I helped you save your friend over there, yet you treat me like I'm some kind of murderer. What kind of gratitude is that?" Her face still appeared cheerful yet her words were laced with venom.

"Tch..!" Satoshi didn't have anything to say back to her, since she _did_ seem to have brought him here.

"Satoshi…who's that…?" Naomi, who was no longer crying, pointed at Naho. The female ghost smiled almost mockingly at her.

"Ah…you haven't met me yet, have you? I'm Saenoki Naho. You could say that I'm your _true_ savior. Oh, by the way," She turned to Satoshi, "I went to go check up on your sister– "

Satoshi cut her off immediately. "Is she alright?! Is she safe?! You haven't explained what you told me before!"

"…How impolite. And selfish. Maybe I shouldn't help you with her after all~" Naho giggled. "Haven't you considered _her_ feelings, too? Maybe she doesn't wanna be saved~! I've decided. I'll just help him with her instead." She smiled and disappeared.

"H-HEY! WAIT! YOU STILL HAVEN'T–!" Satoshi reached his arm out to grab her but it was too late – she already disappeared.

* * *

With Kizami and Yuka…

An image of a boy with short brown hair and brown, gentle eyes wearing a white, buttoned up shirt and dark gray pants flashed for a moment in Yuka's mind. As soon as it disappeared, her head began to ache for a second.

"O-Ow…" Yuka muttered and stopped walking to hold her head. Kizami, who was holding her hand as they walked, instantaneously noticed.

"Yuka? Is your head hurting still?" He asked her.

She was about to nod but the pain just suddenly disappeared. "Just a little…I'm all better though! Let's continue on our way, onii-chan!" She exclaimed optimistically.

_Dammit…Is this what people meant when they said they squeeze something when it's cute? Then again, I read something once about how humans want to squeeze and hug cute things because they're apparently so cute they want to get rid of it so it could stop being 'cute'. In other words…kill. Hah, no wonder this applies to me,_ Kizami thought while walking alongside her.

They've been walking aimlessly for quite a while now. All they've found were some bloody messages, torn papers and corpses. The papers and messages were useless since they contained information they already knew.

Kizami sighed. As much as he loved being around with Yuka, he still desired some…_action._ Or at least, some information that was useful. Exploring the school was probably the _only_ thing they could do right now. Yet even so, he thought that there could be some other course of action that they could take.

As if on cue, a high school girl who looked a year or two younger than himself appeared in front of them.

Kizami halted and scowled. _This girl…is she a spirit? She looks human, but for her to appear so suddenly…she has to be a spirit. She's too old to be one of the notorious child spirits, but there are also many other malevolent spirits at this school…_He reached into his pocket and grasped the handle of his knife.

"O-Onii-chan…i-is she one of t-the…?" Yuka trailed off as she grabbed hold of his shirt, but Kizami understood her anyway.

He shook his head. "No. She's a different ghost. Her intentions are unknown though." He narrowed his eyes as he stared at her.

The female ghost in question spoke. "I am Saenoki Naho, a spirit who died quite a while ago. Whether you trust me or not is up to you."

Kizami directed Yuka behind him in a protective stance. She clung to him instinctively, her hands grabbing onto his shirt tightly.

"Hm~?" Naho seemed to have noticed Yuka by her actions. "Yuka, is it? Do you love your brother~?" She chuckled.

Yuka, who was taking small peeps from behind Kizami, squeaked out of surprise and fear and buried her face into Kizami's lower back.

Kizami looked down at her, obviously enjoying how she was so close to him. But he, too, was interested in how she would answer the question.

Yuka, staring up at him and seeing his expectant eyes, decided that it would be okay to answer the female spirit. She removed her face from his back – much to his dismay – and walked out slowly from behind him.

Naho didn't look particularly scary – the only scary thing about her was her dead fish eyes, and probably the fact that she was a ghost and was still undetermined as to whether or not she was trustworthy.

"O-Of course I love him! H-He's very strong, kind, a-and he protects me! He cares about me a lot! He'd do almost everything for me, b-because…I'm his little sister! H-He's done nothing but care for me, and I love him for that!" Yuka exclaimed with confidence, before shying away and hiding behind Kizami.

She looked up at Kizami, wondering if her reply was good enough. Kizami was staring at her, mouth slightly open in surprise.

Certainly he wasn't expecting that. He was expecting something more along the lines of "Of course I do, he's my brother!" He did not expect her to say those things about him, even going so far as to say that last line – especially in such a way that it almost sounded like a love confession. Though what she said about him was…_somewhat_ true. It was true that so far, he's done mostly things for her, yet the intent behind those actions was probably a 'little' less than innocent – she didn't need to know that though.

He smiled at her and patted her head softly, to which she took delight in, knowing that he was happy. "I love you too, Yuka." He whispered to her, although Naho heard anyway.

Naho began giggling. "It looks like you truly love him, Yuka~. I admire your love for him, and yours' as well, Kizami." She tilted her head and smirked slightly.

Kizami got defensive once again. _This ghost…! She's highly suspicious, but I don't exactly have any reason to accuse her. Still…no matter what she does, I won't let her take Yuka. Not after I've finally gotten a little sister; not after I've gotten _Yuka_._ _She's mine…and mine alone!_

"No need to get so protective~! I won't touch her," She disappeared and suddenly reappeared next to Yuka, holding her cheek,"…much."

Kizami turned around and swiftly pulled Yuka into his body so that her back was facing his front, his arm wrapped protectively around her. His other hand held his knife, which was pointed straight at Naho. Seeing how she was a spirit, there was a chance that he could actually just go through her, but he didn't take that chance.

"Don't you dare touch her..." He scowled.

Yuka turned slightly so that she could bury her face into him once again. "Onii-chan…" She murmured and whimpered, clinging tightly onto his shirt.

Naho wasn't the slightest bit fazed by his threat. "I must say, your love for her might rival that of mine for Sensei. I admire that. How about I help you two get out of this cursed place~?" She smiled.

* * *

A/N. I have a bad habit of procrastinating...hehe, sorry about that. I tend to write longer than usual though, so that's good I guess! Kizami and Yuka have little screen time in this chapter but I tried to put as much 'love' in it as possible ^^. Naho's also a bit OOC but it's just kind of hard writing and depicting the 'stoic type', as she was first seen as. It's much more fun to have her this way, don't you think? _  
_

On another note, thank you for all the reviews! I really appreciate them! One of them piqued my interest though. It stated something along the lines of that they couldn't believe people ship Kizami and Yuka together. (You know who you are if you're reading this!) I respect your statement, but it's also just a matter of opinion of who we like to ship. If you don't see them as a good couple, that's perfectly fine. But I must say, if you don't like it, then don't read this fic. Sorry if it came off as rude but, I'm just saying.

Wow what a long author's message. Sorry about that. Again, if you notice any errors at all, PM me or leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

* * *

"Help us get out of this school? Is there truly such a way? Besides…how can we trust you?" Kizami narrowed his eyes.

"Didn't I tell you before? Whether you trust me or not is up to you. Do you still not desire my assistance?"

Yuka tugged lightly on Kizami's shirt. "Onii-chan, we should listen to her just in case…what if she truly is helping us?"

He looked down at her, taking her words into consideration. It was true that they weren't getting very far in their search, but that didn't mean they could trust a spirit's words so easily – Naho could have some ulterior motive. Then again, the worst thing she could do to them was kill them, and if that were the case, she could've done so by now. There would be no point in tricking them.

Kizami sighed and put his knife back in his pocket; however, he still kept his arm wrapped protectively around Yuka. He'd accept Naho's help for now. "…Fine. We'll accept your help."

"Alright~! Appeasing the child spirits should let you escape this school. They are responsible for the creation of this cursed place, as well as keeping the multiple spaces and dimensions intact. If they hear remorse and guilt from their murderer, the man with the hammer, I believe that should put the spirits at ease and release their hold of this school. How you should get that man to feel guilt and show it to those spirits is up to you two~!" Naho answered with a smile.

Yuka whimpered. In order to escape Tenjin, they would have to get close to the children as well as the zombie-like man – the very people that she was scared of and tried to avoid.

Kizami seemed to have sensed her fear and rubbed her head gently – something which he noticed has become somewhat of a habit. As much as he liked seeing her scared and cling to him instinctively, he felt the need to comfort her for some reason. He never had that feeling for anyone else, but he figured Yuka was a special exception.

"Don't worry Yuka. Remember what I said earlier? I'll protect you. I won't let them touch you," He said the last sentence with menace in his voice, but Yuka being the oblivious and innocent girl she was, didn't notice it.

Yuka was immediately cheered up by his words and wrapped her small arms around his waist. "Onii-chan!" She exclaimed with delight and pressed her cheek against his side.

Kizami pinched her cheek delicately. He couldn't help it – the way her cheek was pressed up against him, it looked almost…squishy. He squeezed her cheek a couple of times, much to her protest. He wondered if pinching her cheeks would become another habit.

Yuka raised her head slightly to look at him and pouted. "O-Onii-chan…" She protested, but didn't do anything else to stop his actions.

It was only when Naho spoke that he stopped pinching her cheeks. "I really envy you two~. I hope Sensei and I will have such a loving relationship. Once I find him, that is." She sighed.

Kizami turned to look at Naho. "Who is this 'Sensei' you speak of? You mentioned him before…"

She stared off into space. "Sensei…all you need to know about him is that he's important to me. I _must_ find him."

He frowned slightly. "If he's so important, why waste your time with us?" He still did not trust Naho that much. Actually, he never really trusted anyone – not even his so-called friends and classmates. The only exception was Yuka. Then again, she seemed to be an exception for most things now.

Naho's lips curled upwards. "You two are interesting~. Anyway, as I just said, I must go find Sensei, so I shall be leaving now. Good luck on escaping this cursed school~!" She smirked and gave a slight wave before disappearing.

_I'm not sure whether she said that last sentence sarcastically or not…is she mocking us?_ Kizami thought. He sighed. _Well, it looks like we'll have to trust her words for now. We have no other lead, after all…_

"Let's go, Yuka. We can't appease the spirits standing around here doing nothing," He held out his hand, which she gladly took.

The two walked forward with no particular location in mind. Kizami figured that since they knew little about the former teacher, they should try to find more information about him first. They tried exploring the second wing again – the one they've been in for the past couple of hours – but they couldn't find any new information. So, they decided to go over to the main building of the school.

They walked in silence as they headed over to the main building. It wasn't an awkward silence – it was just that they simply had nothing that needed to be said. It was rather comforting for them, actually. They haven't actually had the chance to have peace and quiet, thanks to the sinister spirits at the school. The two were simply enjoying the other's presence; there wasn't any need for communication.

Until Yuka tripped and scraped her foot against a jagged piece of wood sticking out from the floor as she fell down.

"O-Ouch…! O-Onii-chan, my foot really hurts…" Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she tried to sit up. Her eyes widened when she saw her foot bleeding.

Kizami knelt down beside her to examine the wound. The cut on the top of her foot stretched diagonally to around the side of her foot. It wasn't a life-threatening wound, but it wasn't a minor cut either. It still had to be treated, and from the looks of it, she couldn't walk.

"Sorry Yuka, but I need to use your dress again. Is that okay?" He asked her. He could very well use his shirt for a makeshift bandage, but Yuka would find it quite suspicious if he suddenly was able to tear his shirt now, and not before.

Yuka's face turned red, but she didn't exactly protest. She thought about it for a few moments before nodding slightly.

_She didn't protest…does she trust me more now? Or did she not want to cause a fuss? Hm…_ Kizami thought while unbuttoning his blazer on Yuka's body and pulling it up to around her torso. He grabbed the end of her "dress" and started to tear it, peeking at Yuka's face every once in a while to see what her reactions were.

Her head was turned away, an evident blush on her cheeks and her cheeks puffed out in a pout. She glanced at him, and caught him looking at her. She blushed harder and turned her head to face him. "O-Onii-chan! W-Why are you s-staring at me?!" She stuttered.

Kizami chuckled. "I can't help it. You're too cute," He told her honestly as he returned to his task at hand. He heard Yuka mutter something, but even at this close proximity between them, it was too soft for him to hear clearly.

Finally, he finished ripping her 'dress' and wrapped it around her foot. It couldn't really be called a shirt anymore, much less a dress. Now, it reached down to just around her abdomen. He started to regret ever dragging her in the first place.

He pulled the blazer back down and buttoned it again, much to Yuka's relief. Although she was covered by the blazer again and was no longer exposed, a reddish-pinkish blush still donned her cheeks.

Kizami stood up and held out a hand towards her. "Can you stand up?"

Yuka slowly tried to stand up, but her foot hurt too much and she fell back down. She tried standing up again, but failed again. She looked up at him and shook her head.

He sighed. "That's not good, Yuka. In that case…" He kneeled down and scooped her up in his arms, adjusting her slightly so that he was properly carrying her bridal-style. "Now we can continue!"

She started to protest. "O-Onii-chan..! W-Why did you…?!"

"I have to carry you if we want to continue our search since you can't walk, right?" He smirked victoriously as she opened her mouth to protest again, but then closed it and looked down in defeat. She gripped his shirt gently and rested her head against his chest; an action which Kizami welcomed greatly.

Yuka opened her mouth to say something but suddenly, her stomach growled – loudly. She blushed a bit from embarrassment.

Kizami chuckled. "Hungry, huh? There really is no food in this school. I think I have a lollipop in the pocket of my blazer," He told her. _I love it when she blushes, though…I think I'll make it a habit to tease her from now on. It's quite fun to do so…_

She reached into the pocket and pulled out a caramel flavored lollipop. Her eyes sparkled. "Caramel! My favorite flavor!" She eagerly took off the wrapper and put the lollipop in her mouth.

_Hm…so caramel's her favorite flavor. Noted, _Kizami thought. "Does it taste good?"

She nodded and took the lollipop out of her mouth. "It's really good! Do you wanna try?" She asked innocently as she held it up towards him.

Kizami's eye twitched a little. _This girl…does she know what she's doing?! Then again, I'm her 'brother'…is this what siblings do? I wouldn't know, because of my so-called siblings…So she gets embarrassed when her stomach growls loudly or when I see her undergarments, but doesn't feel the least bit ashamed about sharing a lollipop…well, I guess I'll comply with her request.._"Alright…I'll taste a little."

Her eyes lit up with happiness. "R-Really?! Here, try it!" She pressed the lollipop gently against his lips.

He parted his lips and lightly licked the lollipop. Usually, he disliked sweets, but he had to admit that this one was particularly delicious. It obviously tasted like caramel, but there was also a quite luscious and distinct, yet unknown, taste that mixed with the lollipop's flavor. _That lollipop actually tasted good…just exactly what kind of lollipop did Kurosaki give me? Guess I'll never find out. Doesn't matter though – he kind of deserved what he got._

Yuka put the lollipop back in her mouth; an action Kizami took note of since he licked it mere moments ago. "W-Well, how was it? Did you like it?" She asked nervously, putting the lollipop to one side of her mouth so it puffed out her cheek.

"Delicious." He answered honestly and licked his lips in an attempt to savor the taste.

"It really is delicious! Where'd you get this from?" She pulled the lollipop out and licked it.

He thought about it for a moment. _Would she remember Kurosaki? If she doesn't…his name might trigger some memories instead..…_ "A…friend of mine gave it to me."

She nodded in response and continued eating the lollipop.

After that, a slightly awkward but somehow calm silence followed. To be honest, Kizami wasn't paying attention to where he was walking during the minor 'lollipop incident', as he referred to it as in his head; as a result, he didn't exactly know where he was at the moment. He found it a miracle he didn't fall in one of the holes in the floor, or trip over anything. He stopped walking to take a moment to ascertain his current location.

Yuka noticed this and tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Onii-chan, why did you stop walking? I-Is there…,"Her eyes filled with fear and worry," a-another ghost?!" She squeezed her eyes shut and snuggled deeper into Kizami's shirt, as if that would protect her.

He shook his head, but then realized she wouldn't know because her eyes were currently closed. "No, it's not that. It's just…" He searched for the right words to say (he would never admit that he was lost), "…I don't recognize this place."

Yuka relaxed and opened her eyes. "Oh. Um…" She looked around her surroundings as well. "I-I don't recognize this place either…" She admitted as she laughed nervously.

"That's alright. But, can you do me a favor, Yuka?"

She perked up instantaneously and nodded. "What do you want me to do, onii-chan?" Her eyes sparkled. She was eager to help him out in any way she could.

"Do you mind if I could carry you on my back instead?" Kizami slightly regretted asking this because he enjoyed having Yuka snuggled up in his arms. However, even though she was surprisingly light and easy to carry, his arms were getting quite tired and stiff from that position. Plus, they were walking through an unknown area, and he wanted to have at least _some _mobility of his hands and arms in case of an emergency.

"Mmkay!" She moved to jump down and out of his arms, but Kizami tightened his grip and pulled her back into his body. Yuka looked up at him, surprise evident on her face. "Eh? Onii-chan, didn't you want me to– "He cut her off.

"Yuka, have you forgotten the reason why I'm carrying you?" He gestured to her foot with his head.

Realization hit her as she looked at her bandaged foot. "O-Oh…"She muttered.

"Here, I'll put you down and then you can get on my back afterwards," He instructed while setting her down carefully against the wall. He knelt down in front of her, gesturing to her that she could mount onto his back now.

Yuka hesitantly climbed onto his back, putting her legs on either side of his body and wrapping her arms around his neck. She squeaked quietly in surprise as Kizami grabbed onto her thighs to support her and stood up. She rested her chin on the soft, tender flesh where his neck meets his shoulder, which was also near where his hair ended on the back of his neck. Curiously, she stretched her neck to the side so she could get a whiff of his hair.

Actually, his scent was quite pleasing to her. He smelled nicer than she thought he would – not that she believed he smelled bad, or anything. She just kind of figured that his scent might've been replaced by the pungent, rotten smell of the corpses throughout Tenjin. Yuka grabbed some of her hair, sniffed it, and then smelled Kizami's hair again. She mentally compared and debated which smelled better, before concluding that his was.

"Are you done smelling me?" Kizami spoke suddenly; a smirk detected in his voice.

Yuka's face burned with embarrassment as she was caught red-handed. "O-Onii-chan, I-I wasn't…! I-I…I…" She stuttered, trying to find the right words to say, but failed to do so. Instead, she pouted and returned to her previous position.

"Doesn't really matter to me if you sniff me or not, I was just simply curious," He informed her nonchalantly. "But, we shouldn't be messing around right now. We should start exploring this foreign area, and see if there's any new clues."

She nodded a bit in agreement. _R-Right…I shouldn't be doing something like that right now! We're still in Tenjin, and we have to…a-appease those ghosts…_

As soon as she thought that, Yuki Kanno, one of the infamous child spirits who kept the school and the dimensions bound together, appeared. In one of her hands was a pair of bloodstained metal scissors. She was slicing the air, snipping it with her scissors back and forth repeatedly.

"Gihh…ih bahh.. mah eye…GIHH IH BAHH!"***** The ghost lunged forwards with her scissors, but Kizami reacted right away and swiftly –yet a bit clumsily – stepped to the side and avoided her attack.

"Tch!" He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he hastily took a few steps back away from Yuki. With Yuka on his back, it limited his mobility and speed, but she was light in weight so it didn't hinder him as much while running. "Yuka! This is one of the children! It doesn't seem like we can put her to rest yet…so hang on!" He alerted her while taking a few more steps back before abruptly turning and running back in the direction they came from.

_Damn it, my movements are restricted! I don't exactly want to blame Yuka, but she _is_ hindering me! I'd retaliate at the ghost, but I can't take my chances. Even though Yuka's not heavy, that doesn't mean I can fight well…The risks of getting both myself and Yuka harmed, and possibly killed, are too high! I'm almost tempted to leave her behind, but…tch! Escaping like a coward, it makes me sick!_ Kizami thought.

During the short time he was running, he tripped over a protruding floorboard. Fortunately, he managed to catch himself and not fall forward. While doing so, the floorboard was lifted up and pried open.

As Kizami regained his posture, Yuka –who managed to cling onto him safely – looked down to see what he tripped on. There was a hole in the spot where the floorboard was jutting out from, and inside it, she swore she could see the faint outline of a small object.

"O-Onii-chan! There's something in there!" She tugged on the back of his shirt and pointed to the aforementioned hole. "It might be important!"

Kizami clicked his tongue in irritation but decided to do as she said. He'd rather not regret leaving something along that could be of upmost importance later on. He turned around and reached inside the hole, grasping something rough and coarse – like that of old, and grainy fabric. He pulled out what seemed to be like a small, bloodied bag. Something appeared to be written on it, but it was incorrigible and illegible.

Yuka put her hand on her mouth as she started to get nausea from looking at it. She quickly shut her eyes to rid herself of the sight.

_What the hell is this? A body part? I don't have time to look at it and make sure…for now I'll just stash it in my pocket. It should fit if I push it in… _He pushed the bag into his pocket, making it bulge out. _Heheh..Hahahaha..…a detached body part is kept safely in my pocket, pressing against my thigh…I'm practically touching death itself right now…what a joke.._

"Gih ihh bahh...mahh eye..."

Kizami's eyes widened as he spun around, only to come face to face with Yuki.

"Gihh…ihh…bahhh... Gihh ihh bahh…! Mah eye! GIHH MAH EYE BAHHH!"

* * *

A/N. Ahahahahaha...was that too rushed? I feel like the indirect kiss part was too early since this is only the 6th chapter or so, but my sibling and I share food and drinks all the time so I guess it'd be okay if they're "siblings". It's fine, right...?

As always, thank you all for the reviews! I really enjoy reading them! I responded back to the ones I felt I should respond to (I usually don't reply because I have no idea what to say other than 'Thanks!' I'm awkward like that.). Anyways, if you have any questions/comments, just PM me or leave a review!

*** **For those who had trouble reading Yuki's gibberish due to her tongue being removed, she just kind of repeats "Give it back...my eye...give it back!" I'm sorry if I spelled them wrong (is that possible?), I don't speak her language of talking-without-a-tongue so I just kinda tried it out for myself by holding my tongue still and see how it sounded like.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

"Gihh…ihh…bahhh. Gihh ihh bahh…! Mah eye! GIHH MAH EYE BAHHH!"

Yuki suddenly lunged forward at them with her scissors. Kizami, who was a bit too slow in reacting, barely managed to dodge it, but he still got cut slightly in the side. He gritted his teeth and glared daggers at the young ghost, as if it would harm her.

_This scratch is nothing…better than getting stabbed. Still, that little brat…! I'll have to try my luck at this! _Kizami whipped out one of the scalpels he obtained in the science lab and threw it accurately at Yuki. Unfortunately, it only went through her and clattered on the floor. He cursed under his breath. _Damn it all! I can't fight back against her; our only option is to run…! Damn it! This ghost! _

He felt Yuka shift slightly against his back; her cheek pressed against his nape, her legs wrapped tightly around his lower body, and her hands intertwined in almost a death grip. He could feel her soft but erratic breathing against his skin. _I have to protect her too!_ _Now I'm _really_ tempted to use her as a decoy but…I'm not letting some ghost take her away from me! She's mine!_

"O-Onii-chan…! S-She's attacking again! Watch out!" Yuka warned him. True to her words, Yuki charged forward again with her scissors, except faster this time. She thrust forward multiple times in short, but quick attacks.

Kizami tried to dodge every one of her attacks, but it was getting increasingly difficult as she had inhuman strength and speed due to the fact she was a ghost. The scissors would graze against his clothes and skin numerous times, but they were not close enough to make the wounds particularly serious. The small cuts still made him uneasy, however. If she was close enough to graze him, she was very well close enough to stab him.

He managed to leap back a few feet, although this did nothing to widen the gap between them. In an instant, she was a mere foot away from him with her arm pulled back, ready to stab him with full force.

_Damn it, I don't think I can dodge this one very well! She got here way too fast! _ He cursed and tried to leap away at the last moment. Luck seemed to be on his side and she missed his abdomen; she managed to scrape his thigh, however.

He winced and gritted his teeth as he felt the scissors cut into his skin a bit deeper than before. "That hurt, you little brat…" He muttered while scowling at the ghost, whose attention wasn't quite exactly focused on him. His eyes darted down to the floor as he heard something fall next to him. The bloody bag was on the floor slightly open; a small trail of blood leaking out of it.

Kizami looked down at his pocket – or where it used to be. It seemed that Yuki had torn through it, freeing the contents inside it in the process. It was also where he got cut. A small trail of blood trickled down his leg, staining his pants as well. He pressed his hand firmly against the wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"Ehhh…? Wahh ihh hihh?"***** Yuki slowly walked towards him. Kizami leapt and took a few steps back, but she wasn't focused on him – she was fixated on the bloody bag. She crouched down and touched it.

Kizami's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about why she would be attracted to it. _She suddenly stopped attacking me, to pay attention to that…? Does she still retain _some_ childlike qualities after all? Or…does that belong to her? She did say something about her eye, if I heard it correctly. It's hard to understand her…but perhaps it would put her to rest. What would we do about the murderer though? Well, guess I'll have to take chances for now... _Gathering up his courage, he took a deep breath and called out to her. "OI! You!"

"E-Ehh…?! Onii-chan, what are you—" Yuka started to protest but he cut her off.

"Yuka, what if that belongs to her? Aren't…personal items important to ghosts? It may put her to rest," He reasoned with her. She opened her mouth in an 'O' shape before nodding quickly in understanding.

Yuki turned her head to look at Kizami, and slowly raised her finger to point at herself. "…Me…?"

He nodded. "Yeah, you brat of a ghost. Freaking hurt me…but anyway, isn't that yours? That bloody pouch, I mean." He pointed to it. "Look inside."

The ghost stared at him for a long while; so long that Kizami was almost certain that he provoked her somehow and that she would kill him right there and then. However, she turned her head back to the bag and proceeded to open it. She reached inside and pulled out a severed human tongue.

"Yuka, you shouldn't look," Kizami told her and covered her eyes with his hand. He knew of the girl's weakness towards gore, and he didn't want her throwing up out of disgust on him right now, or any time at all for that matter. _To think a tongue was in that bag, inside my pocket just a while ago…wonder why it's not her eye. Wouldn't that be a sight to see? _He couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

On the other hand, Yuki's eye widened as she held the tongue in her ghostly hands. "Mah…khung…"***** She opened her mouth and placed her tongue back in. She smiled as it had seemed to fit in perfectly.

Kizami almost grimaced at the sight, but he kept his composure. "I…think you can look now, Yuka." He slowly took his hand away from her eyes.

Yuka blinked and stared at Yuki curiously. "T-The ghost…! She seems…happy. Did you do something to her, onii-chan?" She had a cheerful tone to her voice and was no longer afraid of Yuki anymore. Her tight grip on Kizami's body loosened as well.

"…You could say that," He replied, a bit uncertain of an exact answer to that question.

Yuki turned to face them and spoke clearly but softly, "Thank you…for giving me back my tongue…it means a lot to me. So, from now on…I'll try to help you," She smiled once more at the two, before disappearing. The moment she was gone, a huge earthquake commenced.

Kizami was forced down on his knees as he could no longer stand and hold his balance. "Damn it, of all times! Tch..! We don't have enough time to go over to a classroom and take cover! Yuka, get off my back!" He commanded. She did as she was told and climbed off his back with difficulty due to the shaking of the earthquake. He grabbed her arm and pulled her roughly against his chest while leaning over a bit so if something were to fall down, he would take the brunt of it.

Rotten and decaying pieces of the ceiling started falling around them while crashing into the floor and cracking it from the force or dropping into the current holes. Some of the cracks that were quickly forming created new, gaping holes while some of the old ones were miraculously repairing themselves. The floor was extremely unstable due to the earthquake making major 'modifications' to it.

Kizami was still struggling to keep his balance, even though he was on his knees. Usually the earthquakes in Tenjin weren't of this magnitude. He would usually just wait for it to pass before moving on, and now he had to protect someone too. He couldn't exactly protect his head from falling fragments of the ceiling, protect Yuka, and manage to stay steady at the same time. He grimaced as he felt small fragments fall onto his head and backside; some of which splintered his back. Fortunately they weren't too large, but they were still unpleasant to have. He was glad the ceiling didn't collapse, or have a large segment of it – like the one that gave Yuka amnesia – fall down on top of him.

"Onii-chan, I-I'm scared! What's happening?!" She cried out in fear and clung to him.

He gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on Yuka. "I don't know! Just hold on! I'll protect you!" He shouted so she could hear him over the almost deafening rumbling and crashing of the earthquake.

"Onii-chan…" Yuka muttered and tried to look at him with tearful eyes. _He said he'll protect me…! Onii-chan…he's just like a…_She was suddenly hit with a searing pain in her head. Instantaneously, she saw a vision of him holding her in his arms as he jumped over a large gap in the stairs that seemed to have prevented them from moving on. '_He's just like a prince!'_ The Yuka in her vision thought.

Yuka gripped her head, although the pain disappeared just as soon as the vision ended. _…Just like a prince? What was that vision…? A memory? Onii-chan did say I have amnesia…am I getting my memories back?_

The rumbling ceased and silence followed quickly after the earthquake ended. Kizami looked around to make sure nothing would still fall down, or the holes in the floor would grow. "Alright Yuka, I think it's safe now." He stood up and looked down at Yuka. She didn't respond. "…Yuka? Oi, Yuka!" He snapped a few times with his fingers.

She snapped out of her daze and looked up at him before looking around her. "The earthquake is over?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. Probably has something to do with appeasing that ghost. Let's go, though. We never know if that earthquake could have possibly done something to this area." He kneeled down so she could climb onto his back once again.

"So now we have a killer ghost helping us…or so she says, and then disappears the next moment and a major earthquake happens. How wonderful," Kizami muttered sarcastically under his breath. To have a ghost in Tenjin, who has killed tens if not hundreds of people, help them…it felt weird, to say in the least. Yet, now the girl was nowhere to be seen. He didn't know whether or not she was truly helping them. The earthquake didn't seem to be a coincidence either, and did nothing to lower his suspicions of her.

"Onii-chan…did we appease her?" Yuka asked and pulled lightly on some of Kizami's hair in an attempt to grab his attention.

He thought about it for a moment. "Yeah…I'm sure we did. Then, is what Naho said a lie?" He frowned. _So she was deceiving us from the start…how would it benefit her though? Giving us false information…I don't see anything she could gain from that. Did she know about that earthquake, though?_

"But what she said makes sense, right? If we make that man feel remorse, the children would be put to rest!" Yuka pointed out. "But then why was Yuki appeased?"

"That's what I want to find out as well," He sighed and closed his eyes while combing through his hair with his fingers.

"Ne, onii-chan, why do you do that with your hair?"

He blinked and turned his head to slightly face her. "Some kind of stress reliever. Something like that. Why do you ask?" Then, he felt her fingers softly combing through his hair. Her fingers were smaller in size compared to his so it felt a bit strange to have such small fingers run through his hair. Nonetheless, it still soothed and relaxed him.

"I want to help you in any way I can, even small things like this! So, um…does it feel nice?" Her voice got a bit softer and quieter at the end. She was unsure if she was doing it correctly, so she felt the need to ask him.

"Yeah, it does. Thanks, Yuka. I really appreciate it," He chuckled and reached back with his arm to ruffle her hair with affection. He could practically feel the happiness radiating off from her. _She gets happy over the slightest thing…or is that just for me? I wonder if she was like this as well with…__**him**_******. He pondered about it for a moment while slightly frowning.

"R-Really?!" She stopped combing his hair with her fingers – much to his disappointment – but proceeded to hug him tightly. "You're so kind and caring! You're the best! I love you, onii-chan!"

Her last sentence threw him off a bit. _Me…? Kind and caring? Does she still view me as such? If only she knew of my thoughts and hidden intentions…all the things I want to do to her. Me hovering over her as she screams, begs, whimpers…I want to hear them all. Yet, why do I hold myself back…? _

"I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a familiar voice. He turned around and saw Naho standing there with a slightly amused smile.

He ignored her question. "You lied to us about appeasing the children! We didn't even meet up with the murderer yet and we managed to appease one of them. Plus, after that, there was a major earthquake. Explain yourself," He demanded.

Naho tilted her head in confusion. "What are you talking about…? Is there another way to appease them? Surely, if their murderer felt remorse and guilt, the children would be put to rest, right…? And about that earthquake…that was truly strange. I don't know what caused it."

Kizami searched her eyes for any sign of a lie, even though it would be futile since her eyes were like that of a dead fish – there were barely any emotion in them. "So that idea of yours was only a theory?"

She nodded. "Correct. If you would, may I be enlightened with the knowledge of how you appeased one of the children? Perhaps if I knew how you put them to rest, I might know the reason for the earthquake as well."

He hesitated. Surely there wouldn't be any harm in telling her. Again, the worst she could do was kill them, and she would have done so already. That wasn't much of a problem right now though – Yuka was present, and he was unsure of how to precisely tell Naho without disgusting Yuka.

"…We returned something important to her. To be exact, her missing…hm…" He stuck out his tongue and pointed to it. Naho got the message.

"I see…and where exactly did you find it?" She put her hand on her chin, thinking.

"In a bloody bag underneath a floorboard. Do you have any clue as to why something like that was there? You're a ghost, aren't you?" He tried to interrogate her instead in an attempt to get more information. _He_ was the one who wanted to know why Naho's theory didn't work, and the correct method to escape the school – not her. She was a ghost; he doubted that she could ever escape. Why would she need to interrogate him?

She shook her head in response. "I don't have any idea. This is the first time I'm hearing of this. If that's the case, then would it work with the remaining two children? And where would those bags be?"

"How the hell would we know? We appeased her by chance," Kizami snapped before straightening out his composure and taking a deep breath. _There's no point in angering her. Calm down,_ he thought and closed his eyes. He felt Yuka running her fingers through his hair again, calming him down instantly. _I wish she'd do this to me all the time…well, when we escape, I'll ask her to do it more often…that is, if she survives until then._

"Feel better, onii-chan? You seemed angry for a bit." Kizami could feel her warm breath on him as she whispered into his ear.

"Yeah, I'm fine…Thanks, Yuka," He muttered back as he reluctantly let her release her fingers from his hair. _Don't get so worked up, Yuuya. This school is probably just affecting you. Something minor like this shouldn't get you this way,_ he spoke mentally to himself.

"I'm quite jealous of your affection for one another, even though you two are—oops. A-Ah, never mind. I wish Sensei would be as passionate with me as you two are with each other," Naho sighed loudly and mumbled something so soft Kizami could barely hear anything.

The ends of his mouth pulled downward as he grimaced. _So she knows…I wouldn't expect any less of a ghost who most likely has been travelling across the spaces and dimensions of Tenjin. Then again, I could be wrong…I'm quite curious as to who this guy she constantly speaks of, though. I don't think he's her lover – she gets jealous so easily of Yuka and me…hm…_

"Yeah? You tend to say that a lot, you know – that you get jealous of us. I wonder why," He smirked a little as he reached back with his arm to caress Yuka's cheek. She hummed in delight and leaned into his hand, obviously content and satisfied with his actions.

"Maybe i-it's because…we remind you of that person and you miss him," Yuka spoke quietly, but loud enough for Naho to hear. Even if she was helping them, Yuka couldn't help but still feel a bit uncomfortable around her presence – she could probably never get over her fear of ghosts completely after all.

Naho had a strange glint in her eyes as she smiled. "Yes…perhaps so. Now then, shall we go back to our previous topic? I believe that matter is of upmost importance right now, is it not?" She attempted to change topics.

_I find it strange how she hasn't found that guy yet – she found us so quickly. Then again…ghosts can detect the presences of humans. So that means, he's a ghost. Something must've happened to him…hm...Anyhow, she's right – the information on how to escape this school is more important. It's her business anyway, not mine. I shouldn't be troubled with something like that,_ Kizami thought as he took away his hand from Yuka's cheek and set it back in his pocket. "I agree. What do you suppose we do from now on then?"

"Well, my thoughts on this are that when you put her to rest, the earthquake resulted. Those three spirits are keeping the spaces together, so if one of them were to suddenly release their hold on them, I think some of the spaces might collapse. I think you'll have to try appeasing the rest using that same method you used earlier to find the correct answer," Naho explained. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I–"

"Wait."

Yuki appeared out of thin air. Her eye was still missing, but her presence seemed to be less frightening than before, and she no longer carried the bloodstained scissors.

Kizami pointed at her. "You! You caused that earthquake didn't you? What the hell was that for?" His words were laced with venom as he glowered at her.

She nodded. "Yes, when you helped me, it caused an earthquake. But, I must thank you, nii-san – for helping me." She didn't seem the slightest bit fazed by his words.

Yuka pouted in jealousy while Kizami shivered in disgust. Sure, he always wanted a little sister – and now he had Yuka for that – but having _her_ address him as such…it disturbed him.

He coughed. "Um…look, ghost–"

"My name is Kanno Yuki."

"…Right. Please don't address me with that. I feel…uncomfortable," Kizami told her honestly. He heard a small hum of delight right next to his ear. He looked to his left and saw Yuka practically beaming with happiness. He smirked. _Was she jealous…? Hm~.._

"I understand. What is your name?" Yuki asked politely.

"Kizami Yuuya."

"Kizami-san, then?"

"..That's fine."

She nodded and faced Naho. "Your theory is correct. You must find the rest of the ton–"

Kizami interrupted by covering both of Yuka's ears with his hands. "Yuka, you don't need to listen to this. Just trust me."

Yuki looked at him curiously but continued on anyway. "You must find the remaining two tongues and give it to the correct spirits. The names are written on the bags. I..don't have enough time nor the strength to explain why…I am sorry. Even now, I'm struggling to be here… But…that man is not our murderer." She looked down in sorrow and she began to disappear slowly.

Kizami released his hands from Yuka's ears to reach out for Yuki. "H-Hey, wait! Where are the bags located?!" His hand passed right through her.

She just simply shook her head. "I do not know. However…be careful with that girl on your back. When you appease the other two children, the spaces will–" She completely disappeared, not having a chance to finish her sentence.

He scowled. _What'll happen to the spaces? And be careful with Yuka – what the hell does that mean? I'm protecting her, aren't I? Looks like another mystery left to be unsolved…_He sighed and glanced at Naho. "…I guess I should thank you for helping us."

She smiled. "You're welcome…I'll take my leave now, unless you have other things you need to ask of me?"

"No…I think you have approximately the same amount of information as us. We'll take our leave now as well. Do you need anything else, Yuka?" He turned his head to look at her. She was being quiet for a while now – at least, he thought so – and felt a bit bad for not paying enough attention to her. He wondered why _his_ siblings never felt this way about him – did they even consider him as their younger brother at all?

"Nope! As long as I have you, I'm fine!" Yuka chirped merrily. She must've still been happy from the fact that she was the only one who could call him 'onii-chan' so far.

"Alright, then I'll be leaving. I'll appear in front of you when I obtain new information, or another earthquake happens. Bye~!" Naho disappeared, leaving the two of them by themselves.

Kizami sighed. "Well, let's go find the other two bags then, Yuka. I suppose they're underneath protruding floorboards. It might take a while but, it's better than having no lead, right?" She nodded as he set off on their search.

Unbeknownst to him, Yuki's sentence that she failed to finish was far more important to him than he realized it would be. _When you appease the other two children, the spaces will combine into one and all living participants in the school will meet each other eventually._

* * *

A/N. Of course I have to put a little foreshadowing at the end ;3. I felt this chapter was a bit more focused on dialogue, but eh...I don't do so well with action. Action-based parts, such as a fight scene, play out better in my head than it is when I go to type it. I think Yuka also doesn't play much of a part in this chapter, but hey, she's slowly regaining her memories.

If people are questioning why Yuki called him 'nii-san', I think children usually address people older than them who are nice as 'nii-san', 'nee-san', etc. I've seen that in a lot of anime, and it happened in the Corpse Party game as well. (Yuki called Ayumi 'nee-san', if I remember correctly.)

Thank you for all the reviews! I think it's getting a little repetitive saying this, but I don't want it to seem like I'm ignoring the reviews...maybe I'll say it in another language! Gracias XD But wow, 40 reviews! I never thought I'd get this much. I actually don't know what to say other than 'thank you' because I'm still awkward like that. Well, I'm glad to see that a lot of people are enjoying this and are taking the time to say so by reviewing :)

*Yuki's gibberish. She says, "Eh...? What is this?" and then "My...tongue...". I'm not so sure about how I did as for the spelling of 'tongue'. The sound is kind of a mix between a 'k' and a 'h' in my opinion. Feel free to try and say 'tongue' while holding your tongue still if you think there's a better way to spell it - there probably is.

**If you don't know who Kizami is referring to, he's talking about Satoshi. I assume Kizami has a grudge towards him since Satoshi is Yuka's real brother. I also had him emphasize 'him' in his thoughts since I don't think Kizami knows of his name, but I could be wrong.

As always, if you have a suggestion, comment, or you see an error, don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

* * *

Ayumi, the class representative and the one who suggested the group do the Sachiko Ever After charm, held an antique doll in her hands. She turned it over in her hands carefully to look at it.

The doll wore a crimson dress underneath a white, frilly apron-like top with a light red ribbon positioned near the collar. A red bonnet-like hat with a blue stripe adorned her head; small tufts of her brown hair peeking out from underneath. Her feet and hands were rounded stubs; the ends of her legs where her feet were supposed to be were colored a light brown, as if to represent shoes. The doll's face seemed cheerful and happy. Her eyes were large and round, indicating innocence. Underneath her eyes were two distinct, but lightly shaded spots of pink to show that she was blushing. There was a bright red heart in the place where her mouth was supposed to be.

"S-Stupid doll…it c-couldn't even save…S-Suzumoto-chan's life," Ayumi sniffed. Her face was red and tears were fresh on her cheeks. She continued to snivel even as she attempted to wipe away her tears with her hand. "W-what a useless doll!" She threw it down on the ground. "I don't care i-if it's some a-antique doll, if it c-couldn't do anything!"

Yoshiki didn't cry like her, but he felt the same as she did. He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. "Damn it…Suzumoto…" He clenched his fist as a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. _We finally managed to meet up with her, yet we couldn't save her…_

Naho appeared once more but, neither one of them seemed to notice her as they were too busy grieving over Mayu's death. "I regret coming at such a…vulnerable time, but I–"

Ayumi pointed at her. "Y-You said that it'd save her life! B-But…they…k…k-killed her instead!" She shouted and cried louder.

The ghost narrowed her eyes at the doll. "It would appear so. In fact…I believe I have the correct theory now. I'm positive," She spoke emotionlessly.

"'It would appear so'?! Is that all you have to say about it?! Because of you, one of our friends died!" Yoshiki yelled and pointed angrily at the doll. "If only you told us the _correct_ method at the time, we would've–!"

"She would've died anyway and you know it. Your friend was foolish to hang out beside those ghosts," Naho retorted. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before speaking calmly again, "It seems like they are looking for their body parts – more specifically, their tongues. And this doll," She bent down and picked up the object," has the locations of them. You could say I need this – so I'll be taking it. Bye~" She smirked and vanished.

It took the two of them a while to comprehend what just happened before realization struck them. Yoshiki scowled. "So we still needed that doll after all?! And now she just took it! I thought you said we could trust her!" He snarled at Ayumi.

"D-Don't shift the blame on me! I never said we could trust her! I only s-said that I idolized her! And it's your fault, too! You just stood there and let her take it!"She snapped back while tears threatened to once again fall from her eyes.

"You're the one who said it was useless and threw it away! You're at fault too! Maybe if we kept the doll we'd have a chance at escaping this damned school! In fact, if you hadn't even suggested we do the stupid charm, we wouldn't have been in here the first place!" Yoshiki shut his mouth, instantly regretting it the moment those words left his mouth.

Ayumi gasped as a single tear flowed down her cheek. She dropped to the floor and bowed her head; her bangs hiding her face. Tears fell from her eyes and onto the ground, making subtle dark spots on the wooden floor. She clenched her fists.

_Damn it…I made her cry again! I went too far…What do I do...?! _Yoshiki thought. "O-Oi…Shinozaki…I–"

"Shut up!" She exclaimed and lifted her head. She angrily wiped away her tears. "I…I know that! I a-already know i-it was my fault! I-I…I just wanted e-everyone to be together! H-How was I supposed to know t-that it'd lead to s-something like this?!" She broke down into tears again while trying to wipe them away, although it was futile.

The sorry sight of her practically broke his heart – to look so vulnerable and weak in your moments of anguish…He also felt immense guilt at yelling at her like that – they were both stressed out from the school, especially from Mayu's death, and he took it out on her. The delinquent knelt down and hugged her close to his chest. "Shinozaki…sorry about that. I went too far. I know you didn't mean for us to land here in Tenjin…We're both to blame anyway," He muttered and stroked her hair gently.

Ayumi latched onto him and continued crying. "S-Suzumoto-chaaaan!" She wailed and cried harder into his shirt. The two stayed there in that position for a while; the only audible sounds were Ayumi's weeping as it echoed down the hallways.

* * *

With Kizami and Yuka…

Kizami stomped on a floorboard angrily. He clicked his tongue in annoyance when it didn't turn out to be what he was looking for.

Go look under floorboards, she said.

Find the tongue bags, she said.

Appease the spirits, she said.

_Tch…Easier said than done. I don't even have a clue to where the next one is,_ he thought bitterly. _There are hundreds of these floorboards throughout the school. I can't just walk around looking down at them, hoping to see one that sticks out – and there are probably plenty of ones that do._

"Catch!"

Kizami was too absorbed in his thoughts as well as focused on looking down at the ground to hear.

Yuka tugged on his hair harshly. "Onii-chan, watch out!" Only then did he lift his head and notice something was flying at him – but it was too late. It hit his face so hard he stumbled back a bit. It fell onto the ground softly though, despite it hitting his face so strongly. He rubbed his nose as he glanced at the floor to see what had hit him. It was just a doll.

"What the hell…? How did something like that–"

"I thought I told you to catch," Naho appeared from the shadows of the hallway, crossing her arms and pouting slightly. She stopped pouting and looked at his face curiously. "Did I use too much strength? Oops!" She smirked and giggled.

He glared at her but didn't say anything. Instead, he bent down and picked up the doll. It didn't look all that special to him; it was just a simple doll, like the ones he saw young children playing with. "What's with this?" He asked her as he inspected it in his hands, wondering if there was a special function to it. It was so small it seemed to fit easily in his palm – or maybe his hand was just large.

"I…am…sorry…" It spoke.

Yuka squeaked. "O-Onii-chan! It talked!" She hugged him tighter and hid her face in his hair. "W-What if it'll kill us?!"

"Alright…I'll protect you, Yuka," He smirked and stared at the doll. He didn't seem bothered by the doll though. In fact, he found it amusing. _So now talking, murderous dolls are in this school too? Hah…it's just like a horror movie._ He started squeezing it in his hand.

"H-Hey, stop! That doll is your next clue!" Naho bursted out. Kizami immediately stopped crushing it once he heard her.

"….Oh? Tell me more," He turned to face her. "And what you say better be correct now. I'm tired of walking around aimlessly. We have to get out of this school quickly, right Yuka?" He patted her head lightly.

Yuka loosened her tight hold on him and nodded. "Yup! Then we'll be together even more!" She blurted out. _…Eh? 'Even more'…? What am I saying? I'm always with him, because I'm his sister, right...? I can't help but want to be with him all the time though…_Another sharp pain flared up in her head and she saw another vision. This time, she saw herself and Kizami standing outside what seemed to be a bathroom.

_"Ne, Yuka…Let's be brother and sister for the rest of our lives here,"_ The Kizami in her vision spoke. Then, just like before, the vision and the pain vanished. _…Another…memory?_

Kizami was put off by what she said as well. _Is she already regaining her memories? Then again…she looks confused. Did she say it on impulse? This really could be a problem…_

An awkward silence ensued; neither of them wanted to speak. Naho coughed into her hand. "Err…A-Anyway, about the doll…" She tried to change the subject, "The revenant was the one who owned this doll. He's actually the one who's talking. He'll guide you to the remaining bags. Make sure to give each bag to the correct owner, though~. You might anger them if you give them the incorrect one."

He stared at her. "…Is that all? You're not leaving." She hadn't left yet, so he assumed she had more to say – he could never tell, though. She was quite…mysterious.

"…Ahh…I forgot to tell you something vital. You have the doll now, though. Do you still wish to hear it?"

Yuka pulled a bit on the back of Kizami's collar. "Onii-chan, we should hear her out! We should listen to every important piece of information!" She insisted.

_I agree, but…something vital? How could Naho forget something important? She probably kept it from us…_He sighed but nodded anyway. "Why not?"

"Alright. That man seems to roam around two places – the infirmary, and the rooftop," She held up two fingers. "I suggest you go to those places – they might be linked with the locations of the bags. Be careful though; you'll probably encounter him," And with that, she faded away.

The 17-year old looked down at the doll in his hand. Yuka peered at it from over his shoulder as well. "Onii-chan…Will it really guide us? And w-what if we meet…that man…?" Her voice got quieter.

Kizami patted her head. For whatever reason, it always seemed to calm her down – he never understood why, but it worked anyway. "Have you lost faith in me, Yuka? I said I'll protect you," He reassured her, "…even from your real brother." He whispered the last part to himself. He really meant his words though – he wouldn't let anyone have the satisfaction of harming her.

"I-I know you'll protect me! But…I'm worried for….you too…" She muttered near his ear. Her face donned a reddish pinkish shade on her cheeks. She felt a bit embarrassed admitting such a thing, yet she didn't know why she felt it to this extent.

He raised an eyebrow. _So she _does_ care for me…_"There' no need. I–"Yuka cut him off.

"Still..! You could be scared too, and you're just hiding it in front of me!" She exclaimed, and then realized she was next to his ear and there was no need to raise her voice. She apologized with a whisper.

Kizami blinked. _She thinks…_I'm_ scared?_ He couldn't help but laugh – it was probably one of the best things he's heard so far (along with Yuka calling him 'onii-chan'). Yuka suddenly felt embarrassed when he started laughing, and shied away by hiding her face in his hair. He didn't stop laughing though, and it made her feel even more embarrassed.

_M-Maybe I was wrong, then…I feel so ashamed! I might've dealt a blow to his pride by saying he was scared! _ "Sorry onii-chan, I didn't mean to say that!"

His laughter died down a bit. "It's fine…You _really_ don't need to worry about me, though. Don't you trust me?" _What is this, though…? I feel kind of …relieved, in a way; knowing that she thinks about me. I've seen many people experience it too… I wonder why I feel like this now…maybe because it's her? Probably...she's a special exception; as my sister, I guess she should make me feel this way. Still – something about her is still bothering me. Is she really regaining her memories after all? Do I have to be more…forceful with her?_

Yuka bit down on her bottom lip. She was really worried about him. His tone was a bit off, and he seemed to be troubled by something. _Maybe I should tell him I'm regaining my memories…then again, I don't want to trouble him either. That memory gives me a disturbing feeling though. But, he's right! I have to trust him! After all, he always takes care of me and I love him! _Renewed with confidence, she rubbed her cheek against him affectionately; a faint blush evident on her cheeks.

"I believe in you! Anyway, let's go to the rooftop first! It'd probably be easier to go to rather than the infirmary!" Yuka exclaimed and pointed in a random direction, as if that was the correct route to access the rooftop.

Kizami studied her face. She seemed to be perfectly fine, but he could tell something was bothering her. He decided to let it slide for now. "Alright. The stairway should be somewhere around here then. Probably at the end of this hallway," He inferred and walked forward.

At the end of the hallway, there were two options he could go to: to the left were stairways, and to the right led another hallway. Normally he would've just gone to the stairways, but he smelled something…putrid in the hallway to his right. For some reason, he felt the need to check it out.

"Onii-chan, the stairs! Do you think it leads to the rooftop?" Yuka pointed at the stairways.

"I don't know. However, I need to check something out. You should close your eyes just in case," He warned her before walking into the new hallway. With each and every step he took, the rancid smell grew.

_This smell…it must be a new corpse,_ he reasoned. "Yuka…cover your nose for a bit. You smell it, right?" He felt her nod into his shirt. "Alright, this won't take long."

He turned around the corner once again and was met with the grotesque and atrocious sight of a splattered corpse on the wall. No, it didn't even seem to be a body anymore – it was just simply blood and small chunks of rotting flesh. Out of all the corpses he's seen, this was by far the most gruesome.

A quiet chuckle escaped his lips. _Ahh…Tenjin never ceases to amuse me. Who knew there would be a corpse like this?_ He was going to continue walk past it until the doll started speaking.

"There…under the…floorboard…"

This definitely caught Kizami's attention. "Under the…floorboard? Where?" He asked the doll with a demanding tone in his voice.

"…Below the splattered corpse...it …is there…Forgive me...For…give me…"

"S-Splattered corpse…?! O-Onii-chan, what's it talking about?!" Yuka cried out. Her eyes were currently closed so she didn't know what was going on. It disturbed her that there was a corpse nearby, and was most likely the source of that putrid scent she smelled, despite Kizami telling her to cover her nose.

"…It's nothing, Yuka," He hastily answered, focusing more on what the doll said instead. He glanced at the floorboard underneath the splattered corpse. _So…that's where it is? Normally I wouldn't have minded, but I don't want Yuka to deny me like last time…like how everyone else did... _

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the direction he came from. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife, ready to strike down who was coming – most likely the zombie-like teacher, since he figured he and Yuka were the only living people in this current space.

The footsteps grew louder as they drew closer to their current location. Kizami gripped the knife's handle and bent down slightly in a fighting stance, prepared to strike the man at any time.

However, the person who turned around the corner was a high schooler who looked no more than a few years younger than him. The boy had short, dark blue hair with glasses framing his grayish blue eyes. He wore a black school uniform with what looked to be his student ID pinned on it. In his shockingly bloodstained hand was his silver cell phone flipped open, an image of a corpse on its screen.

Kizami relaxed and stood up straight, but he still kept his knife out. It surprised him to see that there was another living being here, but it also relieved him to know that he could probably overpower the younger man. It also intrigued him when he saw the corpse on the cell phone screen – to find someone who was probably as twisted as himself…it definitely caught his interest.

The young high schooler shut his phone and put it into his pocket when he noticed Kizami looking at it. He stared at him before noticing the girl upon his back and realized who it was. "You…! You're…Mochida's sister, am I correct?"

Kizami's eyes widened when he heard what he said. _This guy..! He knows her! Crap! This isn't good…I'll have to try and eliminate him, or smoothly talk my way out of this._ He was about to say something until Yuka spoke before him.

"Mochida…? Who's that? Y…Y-Yuuya onii-chan is my only brother. And, who are you?" Yuka felt a bit embarrassed for using his first name for the first time. Even though they were 'siblings', she felt it to be a bit strange since she only knew him from the time here in Tenjin because of her amnesia. She still trusted him more than ever – she was just not accustomed to it.

However, the new voice disturbed her. It baffled her as to how he seemed to know her and that she was apparently this 'Mochida's' sister – she didn't even recognize him. Yet, his voice held a tinge of familiarity that perplexed and unnerved her for some reason.

_This will probably be the first and last time I wished for her to shut up. I can't deny that I definitely liked her saying my name though…I want her to say it again. I wish she said it some other time – right now isn't in the best situation to say it,_ Kizami thought and narrowed his eyes at him.

The newcomer was shocked, but remained calm and pushed up his glasses. "…I see. My name is Sakutaro Morishige, from Kisaragi Academy. And you…?" He trailed off to let them introduce themselves.

"…Kizami Yuuya. Byakudan Senior High. Yuka, do you want to do the honors?" He carefully studied the younger male, trying to see what his true intent was. Usually, people would be shocked and confused in situations like this. Yet, he simply let it slide and introduced himself like he was a stranger.

"K-Kizami Yuka…," Yuka mumbled. She didn't know why, but she definitely did not want to interact with this person.

"Anyway, have you seen a girl with short brown hair with a small ponytail on the top right side of her head? It's bound by a hair tie with two big pink spheres – it should be quite noticeable," Morishige made hand gestures to help with his descriptions. "I'm looking for her, you see."

"No. I haven't seen anyone like that," Kizami replied truthfully.

The disappointment was quite obvious on Morishige's face. "I see…by the way, were you looking for the bag I found here? I brought it with me earlier but I dropped it some time ago. Someone probably picked it up."

_Ahh…so that was the reason for his bloody hands. He was probably searching through the corpse…how intriguing. I won't ask why he did that, though. What he does is none of my business. It's still nice to see someone similar to myself, though._

"Alright. If you need nothing else, I'll be taking my leave now." He turned around and walked back in the direction he came from.

Kizami waited until he was sure he was gone before proceeding forward. As soon as he reached the entrance to the infirmary and confirmed that the corpse was out of sight – as long as they didn't look back anyway – he told Yuka she could open her eyes again.

"Onii-chan…w-what was happening over there…? What corpse? And who was that person?" Yuka asked. She was tempted to look back but at the same time, she knew she might regret it if she did.

"You're probably better off not knowing, but that person wasn't a threat to us. Don't worry about it," He simply told her.

She didn't really believe him, but she let it go. If he decided that not telling her what happened was for her own good, then she trusted his judgment. After all, the saying goes that ignorance was bliss.

"It…is no longer…there. It was…already gi…ven to…child…"The doll voiced out. "Next one is…straight ahead. Down the stairs."

Kizami did as the doll instructed and made his way down the hallway and to the stairs. He was a bit surprised that what Naho said about the doll was actually correct – he never really trusted her that much in the first place anyway. Who would? Someone would have to be a complete and utter fool to put all their trust in a ghost, or just about anyone else in Tenjin for that matter. Weren't bonds and relationships put to the test in this school anyway? Eventually everyone's façades would be stripped away and they would expose their true, inner self during times like this, where death was constantly clinging onto them.

That meant Yuka was a fool as well, to so easily expose herself and trust him.

He descended down the wooden steps one at a time, for they were old and brittle and creaked slightly with each step he took; it was a miracle that they stayed sturdy. When he neared the last step, the doll began talking once more.

"Follow the…hallway until it…reaches intersection."

"Onii-chan, that doll is really helpful isn't it? Didn't Naho-san that it was the murderer who was speaking? I wonder why he would help us," Yuka voiced her thoughts out loud as Kizami exited the stairway.

"Who knows," was his nonchalant answer. He didn't want to concern himself with the mysteries of the school. All he needed to know was how to get out of the cursed place and keep Yuka for himself. He turned left around the corner and continued walking. However, he was met with a large, gaping hole that stretched across the floor and disabled him to continue walking in that direction.

"Right…go to the right hallway."

"Shut up doll, that's the only way I _can_ go," He muttered bitterly even though he knew the doll probably wouldn't be able to respond to him. Just then, he noticed that his arms were actually getting tired of carrying Yuka and supporting her for so long. _That's not good…I won't be at my best when the situations calls for me to use my knife,_ he noted. "Yuka, is your foot any better?" He stopped walking.

She pondered about it and wiggled her foot around before answering. "I…I think so. Am I getting too heavy for you? Here, I'll get off!" Before he had a chance to say anything, she jumped off his back. Her foot wasn't completely recovered though, so she lost her balance and fell down on her bottom quite harshly. "O-Ow…"

Kizami sighed and held out his hand for her. She really was too reckless. _I'll have to protect her more…_"Be more careful and take your time. You're injured enough as it is. Or did you want to get off me that badly?" He smirked.

She started getting flustered and stammered incomprehensible sentences. "I-It wasn't….that was! I-I just…!" She gave up on explaining herself and puffed out her cheeks while she accepted his help. She wobbled around for a bit, trying to stand without having her foot hurt her too much.

He chuckled and rolled up the sleeves of his blazer on her arms slightly. "Can you walk?" He gripped her hand firmly in case she needed support.

Yuka carefully took a step forward, and then another, and another. She wiggled her foot around in the air again and then set it back on the ground. "I think I can walk a little. I still need to…hold your hand though…" She mumbled the last part. "J-Just in case…!" She added.

"Okay then…" He helped her walk for the first few steps to make sure she was fine before he sped up his pace somewhat. She was kind of limping, but other than that, she could walk by herself (she still insisted on holding on to him though).

"Go to the… right hallway at…the intersection…and then keep going. It's hidden...near the custodian's…closet. I'm sorry…"

They followed the doll's instructions and walked to the end of the corridor while cautiously walking around the holes in the floor – they were larger in this current area. At the end, there was a large red door on the left.

"That must be the custodian's closet. Which floorboard is it underneath?" With all the large holes around the two, he didn't want to risk enlarging them by simply checking each floorboard for the tongue bag.

"Near the corner…to the left of the…door..three steps away from it. Please forgive me…I'm sorry. I'm sorry…"

Kizami looked over at the general direction it told him. "Three steps away? That depends how large the step is."

"Maybe three floorboards?" Yuka suggested.

"Perhaps…let's see," They walked over to the fourth floorboard to the left of the closet. He crouched down and inspected it. "Mm…it's lifted a little bit. I think I can pry it open." He gripped the uplifted part and tried to pull it apart. It doesn't seem to be working, so he fished out one of the scalpels he kept in his other pocket, wedged it into the space, and tried to raise it from there.

It didn't do much, but it definitely gave him more space for him to grasp it. He put the scalpel back in his pocket and tried to pull up the floorboard with his hands again. "Hnng…!" He grunted while using all his strength. He fell back from the force as he successfully tore off the floorboard.

The Byakudan high schooler threw away the broken floorboard somewhere and reached down in the hole. Once again, he felt the familiar rough texture of the bag. He grabbed onto it and swiftly pulled it out. It looked the same as before, except the name 'Ryou Yoshizawa ' was on it.

"Ryou…Yoshizawa? So it's the boy this time." Kizami stood up and held the bag firmly – but not too tightly – in his hand. "Let's go find him now, Yuka."

"Uuughhhh….oaaaghhhhhhh….." A childish moan came from behind him.

Kizami turned around and saw the ghost they were looking for, Ryou Yoshizawa, sitting on the floor with his knees pressed up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His head was slightly bowed down and his lifeless eyes were focused on the ground. Blood was coming out the sides of his mouth and his torn shirt was heavily stained with the crimson liquid.

_When did he–?!_

The ghostly boy raised his head and made eye contact with Kizami. Without warning, his body was completely frozen – he couldn't move a single muscle, with the exception of his mouth and his eyes. No matter how much he willed his body to move, it was useless. The bag slipped out of his hand and fell onto the ground.

"Why gihh yuuu kihh mehh…? Yuu wihhhl payyyy…Cohm wihh mehh*****," Ryou ordered as he stood up.

Kizami's leg moved forward on its own and took a step. _…! My body! It's moving on its own…!_ He tried resisting it, but he would still unwillingly take a step forward. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he agonizingly drew closer and closer to murderous ghost. It was the first time in his life he felt so…powerless – and it was true. He had no strength at all; he was being controlled. Death was inevitable – it always has been, anyway. Whether it be inside the school or not, death would always claim the lives of humans. Even though death was constantly surrounding them, they would always desperately cling onto life on the moment of their demise. Was this how they felt? He almost regretted not escaping the school with Yuka.

"O-Onii-chan! W-What are you doing?! Stop it! Don't go!" Yuka cried out and reached out for him. An idea lit up in his head.

Just as her fingers were about to touch the hem of his shirt, he yelled, "Yuka! Give him the bag! And don't look at him in the eyes!"

She carefully picked up the bloodied bag. Give _the ghost_ this? _Her_…? She started trembling in fear. How was _she_ supposed to give him the bag? But if she didn't, then…she looked back at her 'brother', whose eyes were looking at her with expectancy, as if telling her to hurry up.

"Yuka! Do it!" He commanded once more. She didn't reply and stood there like a deer in headlights.

"Ne…Yuka," His voice held a softer tone. "I'll be gone if you don't do it, you know…I won't be there to protect you like I always have. You'll be alone, all by yourself – unless you throw the bag near him and get his attention. Don't worry. I'll be safe – I promise. You trust me, right…?"

Tears silently fell from her eyes. The thought of him dying, forever gone and separated from her…she couldn't bear with it. It killed her on the inside to think that if she didn't save him right now, he would never be with her again. She didn't think simply throwing the bag at the ghost would work, but she believed in Kizami.

He was only around two feet away from the ghost now. He was practically at death's door, just moments away from his demise. Mustering up all her courage, Yuka shouted, "H-Here! This belongs to you!" She looked at the boy's feet to avoid eye contact with him and threw the bag. Her aim was a bit off, but it was enough to catch his attention.

"Oaaahhh….? Wahh..ihh ghat…?" He walked over to the bag and crouched down. While he was busy inspecting the bag, Kizami gained control of his body again. He sighed in relief and swiftly took a few steps back.

Ryou opened the bag and reached inside; his severed tongue in his hand as he pulled it out. His lifeless eyes lit up with joy as he held it. "Mah…khung…" He returned his missing body part to its rightful place. He smiled at them. "Thank you…" And with that, he vanished.

Kizami braced himself for an earthquake, but was surprised when none came. "Why isn't there an ear–OOF!" Yuka tackled him and knocked him to the ground with hidden strength. She wrapped her small arms around his body and buried her face into his chest.

"H-Hey…! What–" He was interrupted again by her.

She started crying loudly. "Wuaaaaaah! O-Onii-chaaaan! Y-You were gonna….d…d-die! I-I don't ever w-want to…lose you!" She cried harder into his shirt, wetting it with her tears. "P-Please don't…l-leave me! I…I-I was so s-scared! O-Onii-chaaaan!" She didn't care at the moment if she was ruining his shirt; all that mattered was that he was still there with her. He was so close to dying…she didn't know what she'd do if he died.

He sighed but smiled anyway and sat up, using one arm to hold himself up and the other to gently stroke her hair in comfort. He didn't really mind her loud sobbing, or the fact that she was crying into his shirt. If it was her, it was fine. He had also felt the adrenaline course throughout his body as he kept getting closer to the boy – it wasn't like at the time with Yuki, where he was able to dodge most of her attacks. However, this time…he couldn't do a single thing besides talk. He had never felt so…helpless before– was this how dying felt? He was relieved that Yuka saved him in time.

He stared down at her – she was still crying and clinging onto his shirt. She looked so vulnerable, yet quite adorable at the same time.

Well…she may be a fool, but he was glad that she was _his_ fool.

* * *

A/N. Yayyy Morishige appeared. I like to think of him as "the one that doesn't really give a damn unless Mayu's involved". He didn't have much of a role here, sorry. By the way: I ramble a lot in my author's notes about my thoughts on the chapter. If you don't wish to read it, just skip this large piece of writing and go on with your life.

I think I put too much of Kizami's thought in here...whoops. I usually write these chapters periodically so I tend to forget previous details. I remember things as a whole, instead of the minor details in between. Besides, Kizami's the type to observe things (if I remember correctly), so I think he'd do a lot of thinking.

Were the feelings too rushed by the way? Maybe it's because I tend to write from Kizami's point of view. It's the 8th chapter, so putting this in a new reader's point of view, I think it's...okay. Kizami, or should I say Yuuya, might be progressing a lot faster than Yuka is. That's why I put the little sadistic parts here and there to keep him a bit in tact. (Have you noticed when he just randomly thinks of these sadistic things? Yeah that's all author's fault orz) In case you haven't noticed, I worry a lot about these type of things.

Also, to the guest reviewer(s) **Ryxtel th nobody**, the...three...four...? of you have always interested me, but your most recent review on Chapter 7 has definitely caught my interest. If you don't mind explaining more about this 'Kito' guy to me, I'd greatly appreciate it! Maybe I'll put him in the story as well :)

*****Ryou's gibberish now. He's saying "Why did you kill me...? You will pay...come with me..." and then "Oaahhh...(he's moaning). What is that...?" I think this is what he said in the game, I'm not entirely sure. Yuki's was easier for me to remember for some reason.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

* * *

After Yuka finished crying on him, she suddenly felt extremely embarrassed, and her heartbeat seemed to accelerate, pounding loudly in her chest. The all too familiar warmth filled her cheeks as she realized the position they were currently in. Kizami was sitting down with his legs spread out and supporting himself with his arms. Yuka was basically straddling his waist as she sat on his lap, leaning against his body while she rested her head and her hands on his chest, where she could feel his heart thumping softly to a rhythmic beat. From anyone else's perspective, their position could be…very suggestive. It didn't help the fact that he didn't seem to notice – or, he did and he wasn't bothered by it. The thought of the latter made Yuka's blush intensify. _I didn't think about it before when I was crying, but…t-this position is really…intimate! I shouldn't be in a position like this with him!_

Yuka started to get off his body until he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. She squeaked in surprise at the sudden action, and was incredibly confused as to why he did such a thing. She looked up at him in a way that it seemed as if she were saying, 'Why did you do that?'

His amused eyes stared back down at her, the corners of his lips curved upwards slightly. "What is it, Yuka? You look confused." The tone in his voice and his expression suggested that he obviously knew the reason why, and was asking her the question on purpose.

"U-Um…why'd you just suddenly pull me back?" She asked slowly, unsure if she wanted to hear his answer or not.

"Because I can," He simply answered as delight filled his eyes, knowing that his answer would not satisfy her.

She shook her head. "That's not what I meant! Give me your real reason!"

"Because I wanted to." His smirk grew wider as he saw her displeased face. She groaned quietly in irritation and pouted like she always did when she was frustrated. Truth be told, he didn't exactly know why he did it either; he just felt like it. Rather, he didn't want her to leave him – he enjoyed having her so close to him, and he didn't exactly know why either. _Probably because she's my sister…yeah, that's it,_ he reasoned. However, he took the action as a chance to mess around with her.

The young 14-year old girl moved to get off him once more. He was going to let her, but the tremors of an earthquake prevented that. The whole building started to shake from side to side violently, although it was not as arduous as the previous one. His grip on her tightened as he flipped them over quite roughly. Since she released her hold on him, her back harshly met the wooden floor as Kizami hovered over her on his hands and knees. She winced from the pain of the sudden impact and tried to ignore it by focusing on the person above her instead.

He was staring down at her with an unknown expression on his face. He didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that there was an earthquake going on right now – or anything at all, it seemed at that moment. Rather, he seemed more intent on simply staring at her. She couldn't help but squirm a bit, feeling slightly uncomfortable from this position and his gaze.

Kizami was thinking about something that had plagued his mind previously. Yuka, his adorable and cute little 'sister'…she was right beneath him. He had thought about this position many, many times before. Him, hovering over her while she trembled in fear as he pressed his knife against her soft, pale skin…Yes, that was what he had desired to do before Yuka had gotten amnesia. Now, he wasn't so sure. This earthquake gave him that chance. All he had to do was pull out his knife from his pocket. He could hear his heart pounding, ringing loudly in his ears as he made eye contact with her grayish light blue eyes with a slight tinge of a purple hue – yet there wasn't a hint of fear in them. This wasn't like how he imagined it, and for some reason, he felt relieved it wasn't like that. He didn't want to kill her yet. He wanted her to stay by his side. Ever since she got amnesia, his feelings for her have started to change.

Apparently, he had been so deep in thought that he didn't realize the earthquake was over. Fortunately, the two had managed to stay out of harm's way, other than a few splinters of wood. It was quite a miracle how they sustained so little injuries in the cursed school.

Yuka reached up and caressed Kizami's cheek, noticing that he wasn't moving from their position. "Onii-chan, the earthquake's over. We should go now."

He snapped out of his daze, leaning slightly into her hand. She looked up at him with so much trust and faith in her eyes; it almost pained him to see her. Even so…he smiled and caressed her cheek as well before pinching it. "…Yeah. Let's go." He stood up and held his hand out towards her.

His heart jumped the slightest bit when she eagerly took his hand and squeezed it gently, smiling up at him.

_Was this normal for siblings…? …Was this what…_love_ felt like…?_

"I always seem to come at the wrong times, don't I? Sorry~"

Kizami sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He already knew who it was. "Yes, you do, so just finish whatever business you have here and leave." He turned around to face Naho.

The ghost rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Listen, there's only one more ghost left, and Yuki tried to warn you something about the dimensi–"

"Tch. Enough with the spaces and dimensions stuff. I've heard a lot already. How about telling us something we don't know?"Kizami clicked his tongue.

Naho narrowed her eyes and bit her lip before nodding. "…Fine. Don't regret it later. Be careful, though – not like you don't know that already, anyway." She walked towards them and crouched down to be on eye level with Yuka. "Poor child…here," Naho dug into her pocket and placed something in Yuka's hand, "keep this with you at all times." She leapt backwards as Kizami snatched the item from Yuka's hand.

In his hand was a small, thin glass vial with an unknown liquid inside.

Yuka tugged on his shirt. "Onii-chan, what is it?" She stood on the tip of her toes and stretched her neck to get a better look at the object because she was too short to see it.

"Holy water," Naho answered for him.

"And you didn't give us this before because…?" He glared at her.

She shrugged. "You're fine now, aren't you? Thought you might appreciate a little gift from me. You never know if you'll need it or not."

He looked at the small vial suspiciously before setting it inside his pocket. "So, you came here to give us a bottle with some supposed holy water. Thanks, it means so much to me," He spoke sarcastically. He didn't think that she would simply visit them, only to give them some unknown 'holy water' (it could be poison for all he knew).

Naho rolled her eyes. "I said I'd come at the next earthquake, which was far sooner than I expected. Anyway, just head up those stairs that you saw earlier near the infirmary. They lead to the rooft–"

"How'd you know we passed by those stairs?"

Naho blinked in surprise at Kizami's question. "I'm a ghost, you know..."

Kizami felt Yuka tugging at his shirt again. "Onii-chan, was she spying on us?!" She cried out. Memories of the recent events flooded into her mind. If Naho was watching them, she might be getting the wrong ideas. Thinking about it made her feel embarrassed, despite trying to rid of the images in her mind.

He crouched down and whispered in her ear, "Don't listen to her. You should only listen to me, okay?"

Yuka shivered from his breath until a searing pain spread throughout her head again – it was stronger than the other times though. "A-aghhh…AAAGGHHHH!" She shrieked in pain and fell to her knees, clutching her head tightly with her hands as she closed her eyes shut. Another memory filled her mind, just like the previous times. This time, she and Kizami were walking down Tenjin's hallways with their fingers laced together tightly.

'_Yuka, you should listen when I say it's no good,'_ The past Kizami spoke with a strained voice and a forced smile as he squeezed her hand.

'_A-Ah…okay…' _She had replied to him in an uncertain voice. After that, the vision faded out.

It didn't quite stop from there though.

Another vision appeared; it was a bit shorter than the first one though. This time, a brown haired teen was in it – it was the same one who flashed in her mind a while ago. Who was he? Why was he in her memories? Why did it feel like she knew him?

'_I'll wait for you right here, Yuka,'_ The male brown haired teenager in her vision spoke. The two were in Tenjin apparently. But why…? How did he know her?! Where…where was her brother – Kizami? He wasn't anywhere to be found in her memory.

Then, just like before, the images disappeared as well as the pain. She slowly took her hands away from her head and opened her eyes. The sight of Naho looking at her with concern greeted her eyes. She then realized that Kizami's arms were wrapped protectively around her. _When did he do that?_ She thought.

"…Yuka's memories are coming back," Naho spoke hesitantly, uncertain of what to say.

"Yeah…they are," Kizami muttered and frowned. He'd have to put the last ghost to rest – and fast. The two would escape before Yuka would regain her memories completely. Maybe then will she forget about _him_.

Yuka nuzzled her face into him. "Onii-chan, who was the guy…? In my memories, there was a brown haired guy."

He froze. He didn't know exactly how to answer. He'd never seen her real brother before, and even if he did, he didn't want to tell her it was him. What could he tell her?

"It's probably nothing to worry about. Don't concentrate on the past. Let's just keep moving forward, alright?" He lied, wincing from how fake he sounded.

She seemed to accept it though. "If you say so, then it must be true then, right?" She looked up at him once again, her eyes showing nothing but innocence in them. He almost felt guilty for lying to her like this – a feeling which he hadn't felt in a very long time, if at all.

In all actuality, Yuka was a bit put off by her memories and who the brown haired boy was. Yet, she felt what Kizami said was right – they should focus on escaping the school now, rather than worry over her forgotten memories. That would probably come later.

"…Anyway, you two should hurry. Go get the last one, and escape from this school." Naho disappeared the instant the words left her mouth, unlike usual where she would leave some sort of farewell.

Kizami released Yuka, allowing the both of them to stand up. "Ready, Yuka? Let's do this." She nodded happily in response. He held her hand and guided her back the way they came from. They walked down the hallways, back up the stairs, and back to the infirmary.

As soon as they neared it, Kizami covered Yuka's eyes with his other hand before proceeding. "Hold your breath," He instructed her as he led her carefully around some of the flesh on the ground from the splattered corpse. As soon as they passed it, he uncovered her eyes.

They stopped in front of the stairway that they had passed by previously. "Was this the one that Naho was talking about?" Yuka asked.

He nodded. "Yeah. I don't think there's another stairway near the infirmary other than the one we went to."

From there on, they walked in a comfortable silence, with the doll interrupting from time to time to lead them. If it weren't for the doll's knowledge on the whereabouts of the tongue bags, Kizami would've crushed it a long time ago; he disliked the doll and its voice (he found it annoying after a while).

"Here…here," The doll spoke. Kizami and Yuka stopped in front of a door.

"What if it's locked?" Yuka reached out to try and open the door but Kizami beat her to it. Surprisingly, the door was unlocked and rattled slightly with the force he used to slam it open. He took this chance to take a good look around the room.

The room itself was pretty small; about half the size of the classrooms. It appeared to be a locker room, set with some showers that were most likely out of use, just like the sinks in the bathrooms. There were four old, beaten up lockers total with wooden benches separating them. One had already fallen to the ground near the entrance. At the other side of the locker room was another door.

"Is it in here?" He asked aloud, mostly to himself as he kicked away a small piece of debris. He glanced around the room again, trying to see if there was anything worth taking note of. It seemed that the only useful item in the room was a small bucket in the corner, and he had no use for a bucket.

He began walking towards the door at the other side of the room, having lost interest in it. He opened the door and was greeted with rain hammering at the open area outside – the rooftop and swimming pool.

"There…in the pool." The doll laughed creepily, which only served to annoy Kizami even more. At least now, he knew where the remaining tongue was. There was only one problem – the pool water looked disturbingly murky and overall disgusting. Plus, the doll didn't really give any specifics as to _where_ in the pool it was, so that meant he'd have to actually search through the filthy, tainted pool, and who knows how many corpses there were in it.

Then again…he could also drain the pool. That idea was very much possible and it was definitely more favorable to him.

Yuka, however, lit up with happiness. She didn't seem to focus much on the disgusting pool, and more on the rain. "Onii-chan! Do you think the rainwater is drinkable!?" She exclaimed excitedly as she tugged once more on his shirt. She seemed to do that a lot to get his attention.

He shrugged. "Who knows? This is a cursed school, after all. I'm not trusting it," He answered honestly. He could practically see the disappointment on her face as he said that.

She nodded glumly, but still ran out to the rooftop and stuck out her tongue to catch a few droplets of rainwater. He sighed at her recklessness but followed after her, the rain instantly drenching him in water.

Yuka spun around happily laughing with her arms spread out."Onii-chan! I think the rain's clean and drinkable!" She ran around a little, going dangerously close to the edge of the pool. She spun around once more, only to lose her balance on the slippery surface and fall backwards towards the pool. "Eek! Onii-chan!"

Kizami was by her side in an instant, successfully catching her and preventing her from falling. He had an arm wrapped around her waist tightly and the other holding her hand. He stepped back a few steps and pulled her close to him, safely away from the pool.

A soft shade of pink was on her cheeks, but it was probably already there due to the coldness of the weather. She was probably still blushing though, were it not from the rain. She grinned cheekily at him, as if she wasn't going to fall into the murky waters at all.

"That was close~! But, isn't the rain nice, onii-chan? It reminds me that at least some part of this scary place is normal, even if only a little. Don't you think so?"She pressed closer against him, yearning for the little warmth he emitted naturally.

The rain made no difference to him. Rain was rain; it was merely small droplets of water falling from the sky. Her words did make sense to him though. At least something in this cursed school was relatively normal. He removed his hand from her's to raise his hand towards the rain, even though he was already completely soaked by it.

He felt her shivering from the frigid weather, clinging closer to him for more warmth. He frowned. "Yuka, do you want to…stay inside that room until I find out what to do here? You're obviously freezing out here," He hesitated in making that offer, as he didn't want her to leave his side for even a moment. He didn't want her sick though – then again, was that possible in this school? Logic no longer worked in Tenjin.

She shook her head vigorously. "N-No! I'll stay here with you!" She insisted and wrapped her arms around his abdomen.

"That's fine with me, then." He motioned for her to unwrap her arms from around him so that he could properly walk. She let go of him, but entwined her fingers with his instead. He mentally noted that she seemed to be very…clingy, yet she would get flustered at the most simplest of things (to him anyway).

"It's in the…pool. The last one. Heheheh," The doll repeated its words from before, laughing crazily once again.

Yuka bit her bottom lip as she turned her head to look at the bottomless, polluted waters. "How are we going to get it if it's in the pool? I…don't think we should go in it."

"We're going to have to drain it somehow," Kizami replied, looking around before walking ahead with Yuka following close behind. He walked around the large pool, reaching halfway to the other side when she pulled him back.

"Onii-chan, there's something stuck in the ground!" She pointed at something shining slightly from a crack in the ground. He seemed to have missed it while walking.

"Oh? Good job, Yuka," He praised her and bent down to get a better look at it. It looked somewhat rusty, and it was quite small – like a key, perhaps? Fortunately it was sticking out of the floor enough for him to grip it and pull it out.

Kizami held the object in his hand, which was indeed a slightly rusty key. _Wonder what room this is for,_ he thought as he stored the key inside his pocket. He stood up and continued walking around to the other side of the pool where he found some steps leading to a locked door with a sign on it labeled **Pump Room.** _This must be where the drainage is,_ he thought.

He tried opening the door, but to no avail. _Maybe it's this key then._ He dug into his pocket and fished out the metal key. He inserted it easily into the key slot, and successfully unlocked it. "So it _was_ that key…," He muttered to himself as he opened the door.

The room inside was caliginous, shrouded by the pitch-black darkness. Only the little light from what the outside offered entered in through the doorway. He could barely make out the faint details and outlines of the pipes nearest to the entrance. The rest of the room was left obscured in the shadows.

"Ah…i-it's really dark in here. Um…a-are there any lights?" Yuka squeezed his hand tightly and stepped closer to him, trembling a little – from fear or the cold, he didn't know which.

_How cute…she's afraid of the dark. Unlike the girls at my school, who are annoying in these situations_. "Are you scared, Yuka? Don't worry; I said I'd protect you, right? What kind of older brother would I be if I wasn't there to protect my adorable little sister? Stick close to me."

She nodded and released his hand to hug his arm instead before following him inside. He navigated their way through by having his hand out, touching and feeling the walls and pipes. Once or twice he tripped over something on the floor. In the end, they just circled around the room and came back to the entrance.

"Damn it…how are we supposed to find the drainage if we can't see anything?" Kizami cursed.

"Don't you have a cell phone?" Yuka suggested.

He shook his head and sighed. "No, I don't." He had no need for cell phones. He felt communicating with other people in a course of action other than in person to be useless. A cell phone was probably really useful in a situation like this. Of course, he had some matches in his pocket, but they were probably unusable due to the rain.

Suddenly, Yuki appeared in front of them. Her natural soft, blue translucent glow illuminated a small area around her. "Kizami-san, and...um…Yuka-chan, correct?"

Yuka nodded nervously. "Y-Yes…that's right."

"More importantly, what are you doing here?" Kizami narrowed his eyes at her.

The ghost smiled softly. "You needed light, correct? I figured that since I'm a ghost, I'm able to emit this transparent glow of mine…," She motioned with her hand to the space next to her before continuing," The idea might seem silly but…it seems to work a little. I can only stay with you for a while, though…so please use this time wisely."

Kizami almost had to stop himself from laughing out loud. The thought of using a ghost as merely a light source…it was too much. The idea seemed completely idiotic to him. He wasn't going to complain though; he _did_ need a light source as of right now, and there was one right in front of him.

"Alright. You can just…float beside us, then. I don't think we'll take long," He told her as he straightened out his composure. She nodded and floated beside him, since Yuka still had an inkling of fear towards the ghost.

The radius of Yuki's glow reached only to about a foot or two away from her, so they had to proceed carefully in order to not get separated from her. The room was small though, so it didn't take them too long to find a valve labeled '**drainage**'.

"Here it is," Kizami muttered and wiggled his arm out of Yuka's grip – much to her dismay – to properly turn the metal valve. "Hrrnnngg!" He grunted as he used all of his strength to turn it, since it was probably out of use for a _long_ time.

The sounds of gushing water could be heard from outside, the contaminated pool water flowing down the drains. It was when the sounds came to a stop that Yuki helped guide them back outside.

The pool was empty now, with the exception of some skeletons and average sized debris. However, there didn't seem to be any sign of a bloody bag.

"I…have some things to tell you. I didn't have a chance to tell you before, but now I have enough strength to do so," Yuki informed them, an apologetic look on her face.

Kizami was about to snap at her for not telling him any sooner, but then realized it wouldn't do him any good. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Go on, then."

She nodded. "Um, you see…appeasing the three of us is not sufficient enough to escape the school…The hatred and resentment of the people who have died here over time has made the school stronger. And…as I said before, that man was not our murderer…"

"What do you mean by that?" Kizami furrowed his eyebrows, trying to put the fragmented pieces of information together.

Yuki paused, looking down at the ground. "…He was not our…actual murderer. Please forgive me, I…do not wish to tell the true events of what happened to me and the others, and I do not want to show you either," She looked over at Yuka, causing Kizami to hold onto her tighter.

"…And why is that?"

Yuki smiled. "Because I do not want Yuka-chan to feel the same pain as I did…not when you two are so close, despite some…circumstances. However, I did show it to…a girl, someone you will meet up with soon. I am sure that she would explain to you two." She turned to look at Kizami, a worried look on her face. "Please be careful when that time comes, though. It will be very…troubling for you two when you meet up with her." Her ethereal body became more transparent, fading by the second.

"H-Hey, wait…what do you mean? You don't make much sense," Kizami scowled. His thoughts were a mess, trying to comprehend and put together what exactly Yuki had said to them.

"I am sorry…I–"She vanished.

Kizami cursed under his breath. "Damn it…"

"Onii-chan…what do you think she meant when she said that it'd be troubling for us? Is there something wrong with the girl?" Yuka looked up at him, worry in her eyes.

"I don't know. She doesn't tell us enough information," He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

Yuka bit her lip, before trying to reach up with her arm and comb through his hair, too. She was too short though, so she could barely reach his raven locks of hair. She gave up and pouted, frustrated that she wasn't tall enough. She had combed his hair before when she was on his back, but now that she could walk, she could no longer do it.

He chuckled at her attempts, finding it amusing how she always tried to please him. "You're too short, Yuka. I appreciate you trying, though." He ruffled her hair. "Anyway, I think we'll just have to search the pool now. It should be somewhere in there."

"But, Yuki said that appeasing the three of them wasn't enough," Yuka contended.

"That's true…but, isn't it better to appease the ghost rather than leave her alone?" Kizami pointed out as he walked towards the nearest ladder of the pool.

"A-Ah, wait! I'm coming with you, onii-chan!" She exclaimed, hurrying after him while he was climbing down the ladder. He waited down for her at the bottom, holding out his hand, which she gladly took when she reached him.

Yuka felt uneasy seeing the corpses, but she tried to hide her repulsion. She quickly averted her eyes from the skeletal remains and towards Kizami instead.

He looked around the pool indifferently, as if they weren't any corpses around. He walked with Yuka to the drain in the middle, which was opened slightly. He crouched down, peering inside of it.

"Onii-chan, what are you doing…?" She asked as she too, crouched down to look inside.

"I figured that it'd mostly likely be inside the drainage. Since all of the pool water was drained, some small objects might have gotten sucked in as well," He answered as a small glint from the drainage caught his eye. "What's this…?" He reached inside and grabbed a hold of a cold and smooth metal object, pulling it out with ease.

It was a rusty metal valve.

"A valve…? This should be in the pump room." Kizami looked at it curiously, as did Yuka.

"We should go put it back then," She proposed, and he agreed. They both stood up and made their way to the ladder once more. They climbed up and walked towards the pump room.

"…How would we know where to put it? It's really dark in there," Yuka asked nervously, squirming a bit.

"I think there was a slot for it at those pipes," He pointed at the ones nearest to them that were hardly illuminated by the light. She nodded in understanding and followed him to the said location.

He couldn't see very well, but he did make out the features of a slot. He placed the rusty valve there, which seemed to fit perfectly. "Hrrnnng!" It was only after a few attempts that it finally budged and turned. He tried again, but it was completely stuck – it was too rusty to go any more. "Let's go see if that did anything."

They headed back down to the pool, spotting a small puddle underneath the spigot. _That must've been the water pump then,_ Kizami reasoned.

"Ah, onii-chan! There's something in the puddle," She pointed at it and ran over to the area, squatting down and reaching out to get the object. Before she could touch it however, Kizami pulled her back from behind and swiftly picked up the item from the puddle. It was a bloody bag with the name 'Tokiko Tsuji' written on it.

"Jackpot." He grinned as he held it up proudly.

Yuka pouted as she rubbed her bottom, sore from when Kizami had pulled her back and caused her to lose her balance, resulting in a rather aching butt. "I was going to get it!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You want to hold _this_? Especially when it came from a dirty puddle?" He swung the small bag towards her face for emphasis. She squeaked and scooted back, away from the bloody bag. She didn't know what was in it, but she had a pretty good idea.

"My point exactly. Let's hurry up and escape this school now. I'll even get you anything you want afterwards." He shoved the bloody item into his pocket. He seemed to be storing everything into his one pocket; he wondered how it managed to fit so many things in it. Maybe it was bigger than he thought. His school bag would've been really useful right now though.

At least now he could throw away the doll.

"R-Really?!"

"…Yeah, sure." If he remembered where he put his money, that is.

Yuka jumped to her feet and skipped over to where he was, humming cheerfully as she held onto his hand and walked with him to exit the pool.

Once they got out and was about to enter inside the school building, Kizami removed his hand from her's and grabbed the ends of his shirt, slowly pulling it upward and lifting it over his head. He held the shirt in his hands and began wringing out the water.

Yuka's jaw dropped. She was too shocked to say anything; all she could do was watch. She felt an all too familiar warmth pool in her cheeks as her mind went blank, trying to process what just happened.

Before, she had a glimpse of his body when he had to bandage her head. But now…he was completely shirtless. His entire chest and abdomen was exposed, revealing his well defined muscles – he was certainly fit, that was for sure. She couldn't help but unconsciously follow the trail of water droplets as it trickled down his body in such a…_tempting_ way.

_I shouldn't look at my brother like this! This is wrong! But…_ her eyes were glued onto him.

"There…that should do it," He murmured as he finished wringing out the last few drops of water. "All I have to do now is wait for it to dry…hm?" He then noticed that Yuka was staring at him, a massive blush across her face. He smirked as an idea came to mind. "Yuka, where are you looking?"

She jumped in shock and immediately looked up at his eyes, only to squeak and avert her eyes from him entirely. "N-Nowhere!"

Ahh, she was so easy to read; she was like an open book. He was having fun with this. "Are you sure about that?" He walked closer to her, bending down to her height.

Yuka squeaked when she looked back at him, only to find that the distance between them had grown much smaller than before. She quickly took a few steps away from him. "Y-Yes, I'm sure! Now p-please put your shirt back on, onii-chan!" She covered her eyes with her hand.

"I took it off for a reason, you know. It's soaking wet, and I find it to be a pain wearing it the way it is right now. Do you find it to be a problem? Is my body that unbearable to look at?" His smirk grew wider while he walked towards her again, taking hold of her hands and prying them away from her eyes.

Her flushed face was absolutely adorable. From the way she chewed on her bottom lip like she always did when she was thinking to her cherry red cheeks and those big, round grayish blue eyes that would look around, trying to avoid looking straight at him – all while she was only thinking of _him_.

"N-no, it's not like that at all! In fact, it's the complete opposite! A-Ah! I-I mean…!" She stumbled over her words.

He chuckled and released her hands, backing up from her. "You know I was just teasing you. Anyway, I'll put my shirt back on later when it's dried. I would tell you to take it off too, but then you'd reveal yourself if you did that."

She pouted but went over to his side and held onto his hand. "You're so mean, onii-chan – making me like this." They resumed walking with no particular destination in mind.

"Hm? Like what?" He truthfully wanted to know what it felt like. He couldn't ever remember a time where he was flustered.

"I-I don't know. Sometimes my heart pounds really fast for some reason and my face gets really warm! A-and then…uh…I can't think straight! I'm not sure if it's normal or not. I don't think it is." She puffed out her cheeks.

He had no idea. He of all people certainly didn't know what her feelings meant, nor if it was normal or not. She said that he made her feel that way though, so it was probablynormal. Was this how siblings felt? His feelings _have_ been quite discrepant recently as well, although not to that extent. "Well, if it's me who made you this way, then I think it's normal…"

"Really?"

He nodded, although he was still unsure himself.

"I see…then it's probably because I love you!" She beamed at him.

He froze before he quickly continued walking. He heard her say it before, but the way she said it so directly to him…it took him a moment to grasp the fact that she truly _loved_ him. No one had ever loved him before – especially his so called siblings. "Y-Yeah…"

She hummed, not noticing his hesitant answer and instead swung their arms together back and forth. "When we get out of here, let's go eat some crepes! I really like them, especially the chocola–"Kizami roughly pushed her behind him as he got into a defensive stance.

"She's here," He informed her.

Yuka tried to peek out from behind him, but he wouldn't let her. "Who is?"

The only response she received were gurgling sounds.

"Don't look, Yuka. She's…uh…headless."

The ghost that suddenly appeared in front of them was a headless girl, only her bottom jaw remaining of her head. Little spurts of blood came from her wound, making gurgling sounds in attempt to speak. She started slowly walking towards them.

"I am going to assume you're Tokiko Tsuji, seeing how you want to kill me and you look like you're seven years old. I have something that belongs to you – your tongue. I'm sorry it's not your whole head…but the tongue is still yours," He tried communicating with her, pulling out the bloody pouch and throwing it near the ghost while backing away from her.

As expected, she was distracted by it. She stopped in her tracks and went for the bag.

"I swear, they get distracted by everything…I guess curiosity gets the better of them," Kizami muttered.

Tokiko opened the pouch and pulled out the tongue, holding it in her hands for a while. She then placed the tongue right onto her 'mouth', where her tongue would've been. It didn't faze Kizami in the slightest, but he did find it a bit…strange, for a lack of a better term.

"Thank you…" The ghost spoke quietly before vanishing. How she managed to speak with the upper half of her jaw was beyond him.

"Well…that was surprisingly anticlimactic," Kizami said mostly to himself. "What happens now?"

The ground shaking answered his question. He groaned internally and pulled Yuka against him. _This better be the last damn earthquake,_ he thought. _At least it's not that ba–_

The earthquake quickly escalated, shaking violently now. Larger pieces of debris began to fall from the ceiling, crashing dangerously close to them. He tightened his hold on Yuka and quickly rolled on the floor, away from the treacherous area.

The floors began repairing old holes on their own and creating new ones. Blood stains that weren't there before suddenly appeared, a few corpses even fell down from the ceiling. The walls were shifting and transforming, opening up and revealing hidden hallways. The color of the school also changed. Before, it was a dark purplish gray, and now it slowly changed into a crimson hue.

"What the hell's going on?!" Kizami gritted his teeth as he watched the school transform. It wasn't like the previous earthquakes at all. Tenjin was completely remodeling itself, more so than before. But why?

He thought back to what Yuki had told him when she was put to rest. _'When you appease the other two children, the spaces will–'_If only she wasn't cut off. What was she trying to say to them?

Naho had said something then, too. _'Those three spirits are keeping the spaces together, so if one of them were to suddenly release their hold on them, I think some of the spaces might collapse.'_ That kind of made sense. Did that mean the spaces were falling apart right now…? And if there were no more dimensions or spaces in the school, what would that mean? No, that didn't make any sense. The school was transforming right now; it wasn't collapsing. There had to be something still holding this school together, _something_. Yuki even told them that appeasing the three of them was not enough to escape Tenjin.

Then why was the school changing? It was simply shifting and altering itself; features that weren't there before suddenly came into existence. _Where did they come from though? The other dimensions? But how? Think, Yuuya, think. Naho's theory might have been slightly wrong. The spaces aren't collapsing, and the one we're in right now is possibly adding things from the other ones. So didn't that mean the spaces were–?_

"ONII-CHAN, WATCH OUT!"

_Huh...?_

Something hard and heavy suddenly hit him, making his vision slowly fade out. The last thing he saw before he slipped into unconsciousness was Yuka crying out in hysterics, but her words were left unheard by him.

* * *

A/N. I'm so sorry for the absence. I typed up this chapter right after chapter 8 and my editor would _not_ finish up editing it for the longest time. I already have chapter 10 ready to go (she hasn't started on that either). With that said, I mostly forgot what happens in this chapter except for some parts - like Yuki using herself as a source of light. Sorry, it didn't really explain in the game how they were able to make their way through the room (of course, the player can see the area around them but in the setting itself, it was pitch black) and the ghosts just kinda had this ethereal glow around them...so why not.

I also suspect more OOCness in this chapter. I can practically smell it. I, however, am far too lazy to actually go through the whole thing so notify me the parts where you think any of the characters are too OOC. Also, for Tokiko's lil' appeasing...I have no idea how to describe them anymore orz. Twice is already hard enough to make it interesting, in a way. Third time is just like "What the heck do I do here? I've already done it twice," so I apologize for the really, reaalllyyy disappointing and uninteresting scene. At least Kizami thought so too.

Anyway, just like in any other chapter, please tell me what you think of this chapter and what could be fixed! I'd really appreciate some constructive criticism! I feel nervous when I don't receive any, actually XD.


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